Here we go again... LIVE from Beyond, February 19, 2024

[KKB]

2 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

What date is your Sun Princess sailing?

 

I understand the house thing. Both our kids bought houses in 2020 —- no travel money spent that year, so……..

 

The Viking sailing was actually a 16 night full transit of the Panama Canal from San Juan to LA. It was the only Viking sailing in North America released so far for March 2026.

Silversea was a 10 day Caribbean. If you really want to see a good price, their transatlantic right after the Caribbean one was less than $350 pppd. And it’s on their newest ship, the Silver Ray which debuts in 2025. 
 

mac_tlc

March 21, 2026 Sun Princess.

Interesting...the sailing i booked does not show up online now...hmmmm.

March 1 sailing offers a similar price--might be a better date for us.

(so  about $4K was mini-suite cabana; full suite about $6500.

Rooms look similar but Suites get dedicated restaurant, lounge & Sanctuary area--not sure abou the Sun, but Sanctuary does not have dedicated pool area on other ships, tho is mostly covered)

 

I saw the Silversea TA...didn't realize it was brand new.

I might go investigate that Viking...seems we have been hearing a lot about them from people we know. 

But I dont see 2026 online yet--how did you?

Have u sailed either one?

A part of me says I'm not sure that they will be good fit for us..and yet, a part of me is starting to think we are ready to try. Guess you dont know until you try. Thing is--will it spoil us?

Edited March 2 by KKB

[mac_tlc]

48 minutes ago, KKB said:

March 21, 2026 Sun Princess.

Interesting...the sailing i booked does not show up online now...hmmmm.

March 1 sailing offers a similar price--might be a better date for us.

(so  about $4K was mini-suite cabana; full suite about $6500.

Rooms look similar but Suites get dedicated restaurant, lounge & Sanctuary area--not sure abou the Sun, but Sanctuary does not have dedicated pool area on other ships, tho is mostly covered)

 

I saw the Silversea TA...didn't realize it was brand new.

I might go investigate that Viking...seems we have been hearing a lot about them from people we know. 

But I dont see 2026 online yet--how did you?

Have u sailed either one?

A part of me says I'm not sure that they will be good fit for us..and yet, a part of me is starting to think we are ready to try. Guess you dont know until you try. Thing is--will it spoil us?

Here is the link to the Viking cruise.

 

Caribbean & Panama Canal - Itinerary - San Juan to Los Angeles, California | Viking® (vikingcruises.com)

 

We have not sailed either but are thinking about branching out. We do have two Oceania cruises on the books on their new ship, Vista. Both are TA's. The November 2025 has great pricing. Like you, I am not sure it's a fit but I'll never know if we don't try. Often, the Viking sailings are very very port intensive -- that's not our sweet spot. This Panama Canal only has 5 ports. For some that is too many sea days -- we like those. 

 

mac_tlc

 

 

[MMMCruiser]

Thanks for the fantastic review!

[Monthend]

Trying to find information  on lobster at fine cut steakhouse.  I know it's odd to want lobster in a steakhouse  but my bf and I were thinking  about splitting  steak and lobster tail.

[cruisefam38]

23 hours ago, RK-NC said:

And it looks like BOTH our cruises are 100% sold out.  Hope you guys have a great trip

Hello RK-NC!  I know where Graham is, don't know much about the town.  Burlington, Mebane, Graham.

The hazards of booking a Spring cruise are Spring Break and religious holidays. 

Those are going to be very energized cruises.  

I made hide in the cabin some days.  When your time comes, I wish you a most enjoyable cruise

[PaulS]

17 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

Here is the link to the Viking cruise.

 

Caribbean & Panama Canal - Itinerary - San Juan to Los Angeles, California | Viking® (vikingcruises.com)

 

We have not sailed either but are thinking about branching out. We do have two Oceania cruises on the books on their new ship, Vista. Both are TA's. The November 2025 has great pricing. Like you, I am not sure it's a fit but I'll never know if we don't try. Often, the Viking sailings are very very port intensive -- that's not our sweet spot. This Panama Canal only has 5 ports. For some that is too many sea days -- we like those. 

 

mac_tlc

 

 

We have been on Celebrity many times and have sailed in the Retreat four or five times. We have always found the experience to be wonderful, but pricing in the Retreat is getting quite high. Consequently, we decided to try Viking last year. We enjoyed it very much and are going back, however there are some big differences compared with Celebrity.

The Viking ships are very, very nice and did not feel crowded at all. All of the venues are lovely and have a decidedly upscale atmosphere. The pool area is quite nice with padded loungers and the Wintergarden is also a quiet place to sit. While the buffet is still a buffet, the tables are all set with placemats and glassware and waiters are there to take your drink orders.

The DV rooms are well laid out but might be tight if you need a wheelchair. To get a room comparable in size to the Sky Suite, you would need to book a PV or higher. Although the PV rooms are larger, the bathrooms are the same as those in the regular balcony rooms. They are, however larger than regular bathrooms on Celebrity and the showers are a good size.

As you may know, there are no children, no photographers, no casinos, and no butlers. Internet is included in the published fares, but gratuities and the drink packages are extra. Also, the age of the passengers tends to be on the more mature side. I did not notice any chair hogging by the pool.

You may be disappointed with the entertainment since you enjoy the Celebrity shows. The entertainment on our cruise was quite modest. They seemed to have some kind of entertainment most nights but nothing like the elaborate Celebrity shows.

I hope this information might assist you when you decide if Viking is right for you.

[mac_tlc]

21 minutes ago, PaulS said:

We have been on Celebrity many times and have sailed in the Retreat four or five times. We have always found the experience to be wonderful, but pricing in the Retreat is getting quite high. Consequently, we decided to try Viking last year. We enjoyed it very much and are going back, however there are some big differences compared with Celebrity.

The Viking ships are very, very nice and did not feel crowded at all. All of the venues are lovely and have a decidedly upscale atmosphere. The pool area is quite nice with padded loungers and the Wintergarden is also a quiet place to sit. While the buffet is still a buffet, the tables are all set with placemats and glassware and waiters are there to take your drink orders.

The DV rooms are well laid out but might be tight if you need a wheelchair. To get a room comparable in size to the Sky Suite, you would need to book a PV or higher. Although the PV rooms are larger, the bathrooms are the same as those in the regular balcony rooms. They are, however larger than regular bathrooms on Celebrity and the showers are a good size.

As you may know, there are no children, no photographers, no casinos, and no butlers. Internet is included in the published fares, but gratuities and the drink packages are extra. Also, the age of the passengers tends to be on the more mature side. I did not notice any chair hogging by the pool.

You may be disappointed with the entertainment since you enjoy the Celebrity shows. The entertainment on our cruise was quite modest. They seemed to have some kind of entertainment most nights but nothing like the elaborate Celebrity shows.

I hope this information might assist you when you decide if Viking is right for you.

Thank you for the Viking info. The one that concerns us the most is the entertainment aspect. Although we also loved the Beyond the Podium speaker on Celebrity and Viking touts their lecturers so I am sure we would like that. My wife likes the casino more than I and she has indicated a willingness to forego it. 

 

We were looking at the PV2 for a trip that long, and its $481 pppd, still less than the Apex or Ascent SS, comparable to the Silversea Port-to-Port fare but more than the Silhouette. 

 

[JDPCruisers]

23 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

Thank you for the Viking info. The one that concerns us the most is the entertainment aspect. Although we also loved the Beyond the Podium speaker on Celebrity and Viking touts their lecturers so I am sure we would like that. My wife likes the casino more than I and she has indicated a willingness to forego it. 

 

We were looking at the PV2 for a trip that long, and its $481 pppd, still less than the Apex or Ascent SS, comparable to the Silversea Port-to-Port fare but more than the Silhouette. 

 

Great review and pics. We will be on the Beyond Apr/May and I don't recall who the concierges are in the Retreat?

[mac_tlc]

20 minutes ago, JDPCruisers said:

Great review and pics. We will be on the Beyond Apr/May and I don't recall who the concierges are in the Retreat?

Thank you !

 

Here were the concierges last week:

 

 

[JDPCruisers]

7 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

Thank you !

 

Here were the concierges last week:

 

 

Great, thanks!

[Irishredhead21]

@mac_tlc Another fantastic review!! The next best thing to traveling along with you guys was hearing and seeing your enjoyment. (My bathroom scale claims I have even put on weight just looking at all the scrumptious food pics which seems more than a bit unfair though.)

 

I will try to do a comparison similar to @Mrs_Tiki on my first Azamara trip in May, Looking forward with great anticipation to your next adventures. My best to your DW!

[DingoMom]

@Monthend, in Fine Cut Steakhouse, they have a Lobster dish which includes a lobster tail in some kind of a lemon sauce over a lobster ravioli. I didn’t care at all for the ravioli, and wasn’t too keen on the sauce over the lobster tail. That was on Ascent. When we went to Fine Cuts on the Beyond, and I explained to my server what I just related here, he said I could get 2 lobster tails with drawn butter instead! 
So:  surf-n-turf is on the menu for you and your bf!

[Castaway Cowgirl]

On 2/28/2024 at 4:10 PM, mac_tlc said:

When in Rome….or Jamaica….

 

 

 

This was the sole goal for today and it was completed by noon !!! And it was $16 for two! I know @A&L_Ont appreciates the quest! 
 

The rest of the day was a lazy relaxing one, with an afternoon stop at Cafe alBacio for a Ceylon iced tea and awaiting our 3pm daily cheese and crackers, which have been delivered every day since we met our head butler. 
 

Maybe a little time was spent discussing future cruise options with the wife… Hmmmm… I wonder…. 
 

 

mac_tlc

Looks very good.  Just wondering if I can be nosy and ask where you got this in Jamaica?  And thanks for the review.  We booked Beyond for 2025.

[mac_tlc]

3 hours ago, Castaway Cowgirl said:

Looks very good.  Just wondering if I can be nosy and ask where you got this in Jamaica?  And thanks for the review.  We booked Beyond for 2025.

Inside the port area in Falmouth, there is a small building called the Patty Port. Look for the red picnic tables off to the side. It is very good. We have often seen crew members grabbing a quick patty there. 
 

mac_tlc

[gfkcruiser]

Currently on the Beyond on the March 1 - 11 sailing as B2B from this one.  We had a IV (for 2nd time) and got a bid up to Aqua Suite on current sailing  (Minimum bid)

Love the larger room, larger veranda and larger bathroom.  
In many cruises, this is our first time in a suite on Celebrity.  
One experience that we are not enamored with is Luminae.  Not bad, just not exceptional.  Have not rated at Blu, which we could, but don’t find that menu exciting.  May try just for experience as have never sailed in an aqua cabin. 
Have aft veranda for a future sailing on Ascent and will be hard pressed to sail in an IV again.  Especially in a warm weather sailing. 
Next sailings are on S Class with traditional veranda.  

[Otterman34]

Thanks so much for doing this for us Cruise Critic members.  We sail Beyond in April and this info really helps!  Might have to add the Dutch Pancake House to our Aruba itinerary.   

[boxkite]

mac_tlc, thanks for the review of Beyond and the cruise itself. We will be sailing in late April on Beyond to the ABC islands and may have to try the Dutch Pancakehouse in Aruba.

[mac_tlc]

So, we are now back home in the grey chilly dreary state of CT. Not a bad drive up. For those interested in such things, we head up I-95 from FL into SC, then hop on I-26 to Columbia, I-77 to Charlotte and beyond (see what I did there?) to I-81 in Virginia. Finally to I-84 in Pennsylvania. 

 

One overnight in Salem, VA. Total time on the road about 21 hours. 

 

A funny thing happened on the way to a final invoice for the cruise. As you may recall, we went to the Rooftop Garden Grill on day 11 for lunch -- had about $100 OBC left at that point. Figured we would use about $60 for RGG and have about $40 left. So, we went to the casino and downloaded $40 😉.

 

We waited and waited for the bill at RGG, finally flagged someone down and asked for the check. I figured I had to sign something. The hostess wandered over and said, no you are good to go..  

 

What ? 

 

Ok, I figured they had our room number and the charge would appear. Wrong assumption. Nothing ever appeared. 

 

Sounds awesome, but I don't like leaving money on the table and when I saw the invoice on embarkation day, it was too late to "play" more in the casino. so I had a -$66 OBC balance 😔.

 

Luckily (?) we missed Grand Cayman so those port charges were refunded to our account as refundable OBC and were credited to our credit card, about $25. 

 

Still not quite sure about RGG but oh well....

 

Next up is Alaska in August on the Edge. My son and DIL will be with us with two sunset verandas.

 

 

mac_tlc

[CruiseDoc79]

We have been back for about a week now and look bad very positively on our cruise in the Sky Suite. We made great use of the Retreat sundeck on this cruise for the first time (this is our third sailing in the Retreat on E-class), enjoyed the lounge periodically and avoided Luminae for the most part preferring Blu.  As others have mentioned however, prices are now nearly double what we paid for this cruise, and so when booking our next cruise to Croatia on Ascent we are "downgrading" to Aqua Class. I think the biggest thing we will miss is the balcony but otherwise the Retreat wasn't providing enough extra to warrant the high charges.  We also don't drink much so will save on getting the non-alcoholic package. Would look at other lines more but my wife is set on Celebrity and will not go on any other line because she loves the ships so much!

 

That said, we did sail a Carribean cruise with Viking in 2019 just before the pandemic and it wasn't for us. I think the main issue is the age demographic. We are mid-40s and were by FAR the youngest on the ship.  I would say average age of around 75.  Quite a few walkers around.  Maybe it was just our sailing but it very much had retirement home vibes!  The ship was clean and nice enough but without much personality.  We found the food to be average to bland and the entertainment (as mentioned above) is pretty basic. We do love the production shows in the main theatre and Eden on Celebrity and so we definitely missed this aspect.  We may try Viking again but probably not for another 20 years or so!

[mac_tlc]

@CruiseDoc79, The forward looking Retreat prices are giving us pause as well. DW loves the E class so we may “downgrade” to a sunset Veranda, if you can get one, or maybe a porthole veranda. The issue we have with those is it’s a walk to the elevators and with my wife’s mobility challenges, that is not ideal. 
 

mac_tlc

Edited March 9 by mac_tlc

[mauimary]

I’ll second that it is a long walk to the sunset verandas.  We just had one a few weeks ago on a B2B.  Our veranda was right next door to one of the sky suites. For the price our veranda was almost the same size and when we took a glance into the stateroom next door when it was being cleaned it was not all that different from ours for the price.  Well maybe slightly bigger!  But it did cost them a lot more.     Yes they got to use the retreat deck which was no doubt really nice when we couldn’t even find a lounger in the shade.  We are very happy with the SV’s. 

[mac_tlc]

7 hours ago, mauimary said:

I’ll second that it is a long walk to the sunset verandas.  We just had one a few weeks ago on a B2B.  Our veranda was right next door to one of the sky suites. For the price our veranda was almost the same size and when we took a glance into the stateroom next door when it was being cleaned it was not all that different from ours for the price.  Well maybe slightly bigger!  But it did cost them a lot more.     Yes they got to use the retreat deck which was no doubt really nice when we couldn’t even find a lounger in the shade.  We are very happy with the SV’s. 

But boy did they have a hike to get to that Retreat sun deck! We could never manage an aft SS. More of what we would use is up front. We will keep looking for a deal and maybe grab our favorite, 10123. 
 

The extent of the chair hogging really startled me. Celebrity knows it’s a big issue —- Captain Kate opened her talk on the last day at 10:15am thanking everyone for coming and giving up their loungers by the pool. Even she knew that any attendees just left a towel behind….

 

 

mac_tlc

[CruiseManMikeFromPA]

Great thread, sailing on Beyond in a couple weeks and this gave me lots of useful info. 

[Oxo]

Did anyone know if they have Moscato wine on the Beyond?

Do they sell it in the glass or bottle only? Price? 

What Brand is it? 

TIA

 

[Oxo]

Answer provided by Cruisestitch on another topic. A glass is $10 and the brand is Castello del Poggio Moscato. 

Thank you!