Not very live from Beyond!

[Kelownadon]

Question for the author. I noticed that you took the train from Termini Station in Rome to Civitavecchia. Can you please advise whether or not you still have to haul your luggage up the stairs at Civitavecchia station or have they, according to rumors, installed new elevators. Thanks. 

Edited October 4, 2023 by Kelownadon

[KKB]

On 10/3/2023 at 8:24 AM, ev8876 said:

  Seems the Beyond might be struggling with Covid infections. 

Nope, not a Beyond thing...nature of traveling w/ a large group of people in a confined space.

Sailed Edge 6 weeks after start up 2 years ago...I did B2B; we had to be tested last day & some people were escorted from the pool by crew in hazmat suits...uh, knew what that meant! 8 tested positive on that cruise.

Sailed last July...I managed to get it after it, tho virtually symptom free. I ALWAYS test upon returning as I have an elderly father I see frequently. Yep, positive. Was cleaning garage the next day!🤭

Sailed in August this year to Europe...got it again. (tho DD did not--go figure). Was it the cruise or the 11 hour flight? Hard to say.

Strangely, in my 20 cruises in the last 2 years, I have NOT noticed any significant coughing. 

 

@OysterD Thanks for your wonderful TR. We sailed the Beyond in April & frankly Eclass are my favorite ships on ANY line (ok, Celebrity is my fav line overall...but the older ships more closely compare to other lines overall). Loving your photos & experiences. 

DD & I did Italy & Greece in August & I forgot how much I love Europe (after a 40 year hiatus...)

Now I want to see all the ports you have seen! (we did the same last 3 as you)

[OysterD]

Day 6 - Katakolon (Olympia)

 

We aren't really ones for booking ship excursions. Partly because we can normally do the same thing for a fraction of the cost and partly because we prefer doing things on our own schedule and not sitting on a crowded bus for hours on end.

 

After leisurely tea and pastries for breakfast we wandered off the ship and walked the couple hundred yards from the port to a car rental place. Katakolon isn't very big. At all. Within 20 mins we had booked a teeny tiny Fiat, had the keys and were on our way to Olympia. I think it was either €45 or €50 for the day and we stuck €15 of petrol in the tank just before we brought it back. Much cheaper than any of the bus excursions to Olympia!

 

There were only a couple of turns to make from the port to Olympia which the car rental place had pointed out and circled on a handy dandy map they gave us. Driving was easy although the speed limits made no sense. Generally when driving abroad I tend to go at the speed of the locals, but there were parts where we were sure the limit was 60kmh, I was doing maybe slightly above that, ahem, yet still being overtaken constantly!

 

We made it to Olympia after maybe 45 mins, parked up and headed over to the main entrance of the ruins. Now I'll preface this by saying not everyone in our party is particularly enthralled by 'ruins', comments over the years have led to such historical artefacts being described as 'a pile of rubble'. When we saw the queue for tickets we decided to take the advice of the car rental lady and walk around the outskirts of the site one what started off as a very good road/path. 

 

 

We managed to get a reasonable view of some of the site plus the original running track with some brave souls down there attempting to run it (scorching sunshine and about 35c!). 

 

 

it was when we turned off the main road onto a dirt track that things went a little south. Now I pride myself on being pretty good at map reading and with Google maps satellite view open and the path around seemingly obvious, it should have been an easy leisurely walk. Until I thought we could take a short cut, through an olive tree grove, which didn't actually lead back to the path but ended at a rather steep precipice with a river at the bottom. Back we went. Then it turned out the path didn't have a bridge over the river as we expected, but went through the river. Still, all good fun and we certainly got our 10k steps in for the day. 

 

 

We'd asked at the car rental place for any recommendations for somewhere to get some good gyros for lunch, so once we got back to civilisation at Olympia we hunted the restaurant down and sat down for a much needed refreshment break!

 

 

After a bit of souvenir shopping we headed back to the car, which had gotten up to gas mark 6 inside by this time, ran the ac for 5 mins before getting in and then drove back towards the port. Just 5 mins outside the port we had been told was a decent beach, so we took a detour there, had a swim in the sea and a couple of drinks at the beachside bar. 

 

 

Dropped the car off and crossed the road back to the ship...yes, the port really is that small!

 

 

Dinner tonight was at Le Voyage, I guess I would say it was the Beyond equivalent of Murano, but we preferred this. Felt a bit less stuffy, bit less dark and gloomy and personally I'm not all that enamoured with the table side service in Murano, it's not the 70s. Food was great and the service was excellent. 

 

 

 

 

After dinner the silent disco was in full swing in the main foyer, we joined in for a bit then headed to the theatre to watch the Liars Club. Wasn't sure what to expect but it was actually pretty hilarious. Alejandro has a great sense of humour and kept everyone in stitches throughout.

 

 

It was nice to see, at 11pm and not even for a production show, that the theatre was pretty much full. The entertainment throughout the whole cruise was great and the theatre was full every time we went. This was a stark contrast to last year on Reflection where most nights the theatre was less than half full, although admittedly we were sailing at just over 2/3 capacity then.