Fresh off the Beyond from an ABC trip. Any questions? 2 adults 1 older kids club kid.

[Jezo]

Aft balcony, floor 9.

 

Lots of people who post are always in the pools or going to the shows or sitting at the bars all night. We are busy at the ports and don't do much of the usual cruise stuff. We have been sitting on our aft balcony a lot, go to the buffet because it's causal and we can sit outside, or will grab a drink and sit off by ourselves. Real exciting, right? 

 

This was our first Celebrity cruise.  Have done Royal, Norwegian, MSC, and Virgin.  Our cost was around $4500, booked March of 2023.  I looked at the same cruise a month ago and priced were all the way up to $8000!  I think it was fully worth the price we paid, even $5000, but for the prices they are charing now, not so much when compared to other lines.  But lately cruise pricing has gone bonkers across the board.  

 

The service was pretty great overall.  Bartenders at every bar got to everyone quickly.  Buffet folks were all nice, the limited number of restaurant staff we interacted with were all as well.  Room steward was always around.

 

So what I have noticed is the pool deck is an impossibility unless you wake up at dawn. There is some chair saving but I can't really say it's bad. It's just jam packed with wall to wall people. But then 3pm comes around and it's a ghost town. Which is great for us! At night we have literally had the entire Solarium to ourselves and one evening on the pool deck it was us with a handful of folks. I was in the pool floating around with 3 other people. Come dark the hot tubs will be empty, we used them after sunset and pretty much had them to ourselves each night.  I have carefully staged photos that makes it seem like we have a private ship.  At one point the AC broke in Eden and I was the only person in there.  Me and four bartenders.  It was actually really hot and humid in there so every other passenger ran away, I was sweating a bit but when was I ever going to have the entire Eden lounge to myself on a ship with 3000 people?  And not just kind of empty.  There was just me.  I hung out for half hour drinking Figs.  This was fixed and doesn't normally happen so don't worry about that.

 

We went to the main dining room once, buffet nightly and I'd get our own room service for breakfast, did the Le Petit Chef dinner twice (and loved it), was in the Eden area once randomly one night and a second time to see the Decadence show, have the premium drink package, an aft balcony, and a kid in the older kids kids club, the one right before being a teen. I have stopped at the Martini bar a few times, went to the bourbon sports bar place a couple of times to grab an old fashioned or Manhattan, and have been drinking a lot of Coke Zeros, with and without Bacardi 8 rum.  Switched to rum punch at some point, along with Bombay and sparkling water.  Speaking of which I also drank dozens of sparkling  San Pellegrinos.

 

So if anyone has any boring questions let

me know!

[mimi'sgirl]

Thank you for doing a review! I would love to know what you did in Aruba and Curacao. We will be visiting these 2 islands later this year. 

[Jezo]

In Aruba we went out on The Black Pearl boat for their morning trip.  Crew was super nice, food was great, the morning was very relaxing.  Snorkeling was okay but we were completely spoiled by Bonaire two days prior so it's not even fair as that was the best we've ever done in our lives.  Then we rented a chair right where the dock is and sat around all afternoon.  Also stopped at SuperFood the large Dutch supermarket for dutch snack souvenirs.  I got some friet sauce, which makes me happy.

 

Curaco we rented a car for the day from Advanced Car Rental.  $125 all in ( plus $25 bucks of gas at the end to refill).  He meets you right at the port.  We hit 5 different beaches and saw the flamingos on the way back. At port walked over the pontoon bridge, which is apparently the longest and oldest in the world, and just happened to time it right so we got to see it operate.  That's quite the experience.  Just a warning announcement in I think dutch, a bunch of bells, and everyone starts running to get off before you are stuck.

[nordicacres]

Tell me more about Bonaire and snorkeling! 

[mimi'sgirl]

Sounds like a great trip!! I’ve considered renting a car to get to the beaches. Thank you for the info!

[Jezo]

2 hours ago, nordicacres said:

Tell me more about Bonaire and snorkeling! 

 

We went out with Woodwinds.  It was drift snorkeling, something I have never done.  They drop you off in one spot and then you go along with the tide for a half hour and the boat swings around and picks you up down current. Small catamaran tour further split into three groups each with a guide when in the water..  Two spots along the reef on Klein Bonaire.  It was absolutely phenomenal.

[cincymel]

We leave for this exact trip in 3 weeks.  Tell me more about renting a chair at the dock in Aruba?  I've got time to kill between 2 excursions and this sounds like a relaxing way to spend those couple of hours.

[cruisegal40]

39 minutes ago, Jezo said:

 

We went out with Woodwinds.  It was drift snorkeling, something I have never done.  They drop you off in one spot and then you go along with the tide for a half hour and the boat swings around and picks you up down current. Small catamaran tour further split into three groups each with a guide when in the water..  Two spots along the reef on Klein Bonaire.  It was absolutely phenomenal.

Thank you for this. This is right up our ally for our September cruise. Did they pick you up at the port or to you need to go to them?

[Jezo]

2 hours ago, cincymel said:

We leave for this exact trip in 3 weeks.  Tell me more about renting a chair at the dock in Aruba?  I've got time to kill between 2 excursions and this sounds like a relaxing way to spend those couple of hours.

For a couple chairs and umbrella it was $40.  You just go find a dude from one of the hotels and say you want to rent a chair and if there is an open one they will take your money.  

 

2 hours ago, cruisegal40 said:

Thank you for this. This is right up our ally for our September cruise. Did they pick you up at the port or to you need to go to them?

 

We could see their boat from our balcony.  You just get off the ship and walk over to the right for a minute or four and they are right there. They leave from the Divi hotel which is next to the terminal.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

4 hours ago, Jezo said:

 

We went out with Woodwinds.  It was drift snorkeling, something I have never done.  They drop you off in one spot and then you go along with the tide for a half hour and the boat swings around and picks you up down current. Small catamaran tour further split into three groups each with a guide when in the water..  Two spots along the reef on Klein Bonaire.  It was absolutely phenomenal.

 

Thank you for this! I'm currently reserved with them for my cruise in July and had been debating cancelling and doing something pre-paid (I prefer to have everything set in advance, so not a huge fan of cash on arrival).

 

How much were the pictures they take if you want them?

[Jezo]

59 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

Thank you for this! I'm currently reserved with them for my cruise in July and had been debating cancelling and doing something pre-paid (I prefer to have everything set in advance, so not a huge fan of cash on arrival).

 

How much were the pictures they take if you want them?

 

$40 for the whole set, and something else per picture, I forget, we just got all of them because we were in quite a few.  They will show you all of them before you get off so you can make a decision.

 

If you are worried about having cash with you, don't.  This island isn't like many in the western Caribbean you might have been to that you don't want to be walking around with cash.  It's a very short walk from the boat with most of it being on hotel property behind a locked gate.  Even outside at the port no one is going to come up to you at all.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

4 minutes ago, Jezo said:

 

$40 for the whole set, and something else per picture, I forget, we just got all of them because we were in quite a few.  They will show you all of them before you get off so you can make a decision.

 

If you are worried about having cash with you, don't.  This island isn't like many in the western Caribbean you might have been to that you don't want to be walking around with cash.  It's a very short walk from the boat with most of it being on hotel property behind a locked gate.  Even outside at the port no one is going to come up to you at all.

 

Thanks. It's more just liking to have everything covered, but it sounds like this is worth it.

[sunkey1]

On 6/9/2024 at 12:57 PM, Jezo said:

 

We went out with Woodwinds.  It was drift snorkeling, something I have never done.  They drop you off in one spot and then you go along with the tide for a half hour and the boat swings around and picks you up down current. Small catamaran tour further split into three groups each with a guide when in the water..  Two spots along the reef on Klein Bonaire.  It was absolutely phenomenal.

We did Woodwinds last October on the same run and can second that endorsement. They did a great job and we had a fantastic time!

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

On 6/9/2024 at 6:01 PM, Jezo said:

 

$40 for the whole set, and something else per picture, I forget, we just got all of them because we were in quite a few.  They will show you all of them before you get off so you can make a decision.

 

If you are worried about having cash with you, don't.  This island isn't like many in the western Caribbean you might have been to that you don't want to be walking around with cash.  It's a very short walk from the boat with most of it being on hotel property behind a locked gate.  Even outside at the port no one is going to come up to you at all.

 

Sorry, one more question if you don't mind.

 

What was the lunch they include? I'm decided on doing the tour now, but deciding if I need to bring a Luna bar or the like to eat instead as there are some things I don't eat. 😛 

[Jezo]

40 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

Sorry, one more question if you don't mind.

 

What was the lunch they include? I'm decided on doing the tour now, but deciding if I need to bring a Luna bar or the like to eat instead as there are some things I don't eat. 😛 

On our trip it was a Siri Lankan inspired tropical noodle dish and it was amazing.  Think Chinese lo mein, except really good and fresh.  They also had sugar bread and something else like that before hand.  There is also an alternative Quinoa one if you can't have noodles.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

34 minutes ago, Jezo said:

On our trip it was a Siri Lankan inspired tropical noodle dish and it was amazing.  Think Chinese lo mein, except really good and fresh.  They also had sugar bread and something else like that before hand.  There is also an alternative Quinoa one if you can't have noodles.

 

Thanks! 

[cruisegal40]

What time did the excursion start in Bonaire?  I really want to snorkel and there are a few boats out there that do that. But some are like 8:00 in the a.m. 

[Jezo]

18 hours ago, cruisegal40 said:

What time did the excursion start in Bonaire?  I really want to snorkel and there are a few boats out there that do that. But some are like 8:00 in the a.m. 

 

You check in around 845.  We got there earlier, maybe 835?  Either way it's plenty of time to get off the ship.  It's the 3 minute walk off the ship to go meet the main guy.  Then he checks you off a list and let's you into the hotel area.  The tour itself is scheduled to start at 9.  Boat should be cleared around 8.

[fmlsprtsfn]

I have a question.  Do they offer a specialty coffee only package once you're aboard?  This is my first Celebrity, but I thought I remembered Royal offering something like that on my last cruise.

TYIA

Cheryl

[PTC DAWG]

22 minutes ago, fmlsprtsfn said:

I have a question.  Do they offer a specialty coffee only package once you're aboard?  This is my first Celebrity, but I thought I remembered Royal offering something like that on my last cruise.

TYIA

Cheryl

I have never seen that on Celebrity

[scurrymd]

We are taking our 13 year old granddaughter on the Beyond in a couple weeks. How did your child enjoy it?  I know Celebrity isn’t as kid focused as some other cruise lines…just hoping she won’t be bored!

[Jezo]

2 hours ago, scurrymd said:

We are taking our 13 year old granddaughter on the Beyond in a couple weeks. How did your child enjoy it?  I know Celebrity isn’t as kid focused as some other cruise lines…just hoping she won’t be bored!

 

Is she social?  Since she is too old for the basic kids club it will be up to her to socialize with the teens in the basement thing they have.  On our trip we almost all of the teenagers hanging out with each other.  There really are limited activities compared to a more traditional family focused cruise line and none of the kid type stuff found on the mega ships.  Our guy was in the kids club so he had chaperoned fun in a set location and met plenty of people his age.  Based on what I saw though, she'll be able to meet others and have people to hang out with as long as she is fine with meeting strangers. 

[scurrymd]

She’s actually really good with meeting people and making friends. We told her that if there is a teen club, she would have to go once, and if she didn’t like it/meet other kids to hang out with,we wouldn’t push her to do it again. 

Edited Saturday at 05:15 AM by scurrymd

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

15 hours ago, scurrymd said:

She’s actually really good with meeting people and making friends. We told her that if there is a teen club, she would have to go once, and if she didn’t like it/meet other kids to hang out with,we wouldn’t push her to do it again. 

 

If Celebrity is like other lines (parents can comment on this), the first night is usually when they do their meeting and ice breaker type things and so that would be the best time to go to offer her the best chance of meeting kids to hang out with. I've heard that at lwast on other lines, those who don't go that first night have the harder time breaking into the already-formed cliques and liking the club.