Rare GenerationX Posted July 20 #1 Share Posted July 20 This post was recognized by LauraS! "And another from GenerationX! Thank you for generously sharing your time at sea with everyone at Cruise Critic! See your post featured on our: Click: Cruise Reports page. When you return, please consider submitting it to the site for publication as well: Click: Write a Review" GenerationX was awarded the badge '"Live from...."' and 5 points. Well hey there CC! It seems like it was just yesterday (actually like 21 days ago) that I stepped off Reflection after 10 days of back to back short cruising. BTW, I’m sorry, I know I still need to finish that review, it’s on my list of things to do today. Doing 2 cruises 3 weeks apart makes for a VERY hectic 3 weeks at the office. Which brings me to this new review, in which tomorrow my daughter and I will board Beyond to spend 6 nights sailing to Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Bimini to celebrate my birthday! I think this also sets a record for my lateness in starting my review, as I’m just getting time to write this intro as we sat in the Admirals Club in STL waiting out a 3 hour flight delay to Miami (apparently yesterday’s software issues are still making ripples, this is why I never risk flying in the day of the cruise). I'm so excited to be spending my birthday on my favorite E-class Celebrity ship with my favorite person! A little about us for anyone who hasn't come along before: I’m Charla, happily married to my frequent cruising companion Jeremy (who is left home to run our hobby farm for this “just us girls” vacay), 6 short days out from my 42nd birthday and an attorney from the St. Louis, MO area. My kiddo who we’ll call Gen Z or Mini Me is 11, is neurodiverse, and has a love of the arts, food and travel that is surpassed only by her love of all things ocean and animal-related. In the past year, it seems she’s also started to adopt my taste in handbags and shoes (and I was terrified as a parent to discover on our last shopping outing that she actually wears a half size LARGER shoe than I do now 🤯). When she’s not at sea, she plays center for her school’s basketball team (see note above re: shoe size and that my 11 year old now stands nearly eye to eye with me) and is an aspiring 3-day eventing equestrian. We’re very much hoping that the ship will be showing the Paris Olympics opening ceremonies on the big screen in the rooftop garden on my birthday and have packed Team USA basketball and equestrian supporter outfits and accessories for the occasion. Also joining us on this trip will be Claudie (Mini Me’s favorite American Girl doll) and Timothy Turtle, both of whom are also traveling with extensive wardrobes (I swear I don’t know where my child gets her overpacking tendencies from…) I’m a well seasoned Celebrity cruiser and Gen Z is well on her way. She’s sailed on both S and M class ships, but this will be her first time on an E class vessel. Our last cruise together was on MSC Seascape last summer. For this trip, price and dates were pretty much evenly matched between a return to Seascape and sailing on Beyond, so I let Gen Z decide which one she wanted to do more. I won’t lie, I was SHOCKED when she picked Beyond. I thought for sure that after that week of waterslides, arcade, thrill ride, etc. she’d be throwing up duces at sailing Celebrity again until her early 20’s. But Gen Z said while the ship was “so much fun” it was also “really loud most of the time and always crowded with a lot of people brushing against you” (her sensory condition manifests primarily in sound and tactile sensitivities). My little aspiring James Beard judge also proclaimed the food on Celebrity “a step or 2 above” MSC. She also liked that the Celebrity port itinerary included the Cayman Islands because she really wants to visit their turtle sanctuary that I’ve told her about. For this cruise, we’ll be sailing in a sky suite and I’ve been mentally preparing myself for the square footage step down after spending a quarter of last month in a signature suite and a celebrity suite (bougie cruise addict problems, sigh). As always when sailing with Gen Z, I’ll be sure to report on the kid experience onboard. We spent our afternoon yesterday in our pre-cruise ritual way getting our anxiety relief pedicures at the spa at the Four Seasons in STL. We just started boarding for our delayed departure and I just saw our pilot head down to do his pre-flight check, so hopefully very soon it’ll be wheels up for Miami! In the words of Mini Me: “If I don’t see a palm tree soon, I’m gonna have mental problems!” Looking forward to taking everyone along on another cruise! 47 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barwick Cruiser Posted July 20 #2 Share Posted July 20 Happy sailing and very happy birthday…what a great way to spend your special day! Can’t wait to see all the pics and I hope for mini me’s sake that conditions are favourable for tendering in GC! Cheers! 🥂 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mac_tlc Posted July 20 #3 Share Posted July 20 Back? So soon? 😂😂😂. Happy Birthday and hope the two of you have a wonderful time! As always, I’m following along. Beyond is our favorite X ship also. mac_tlc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ciaranaman Posted July 20 #4 Share Posted July 20 Welcome back! I had a feeling this live was going to be popping up anytime soon, and here it is! It's great to see your daughter again - she really is growing up so fast! Cheers 🥂 to wonderful Happy Birthday girl-time cruise! ~Bernadette 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Stem to Stern Posted July 20 #5 Share Posted July 20 Happy travels!! Thinking of poor Jeremy left to tend to the four-legged family members back home on the farm. Lovin’ the mother-daughter fashionista realness that you are both giving us so far. Especially the footwear.👍👍 You are teaching her well.😜 Don’t blink because Gen Z looks like she is growing up fast. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare WrittenOnYourHeart Posted July 20 #6 Share Posted July 20 Woohoo!! Happy early birthday!!! I'll be boarding Beyond the day you disembark (should probably start my Live soon...)!! Have a great trip!!! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susanb10567 Posted July 20 #7 Share Posted July 20 Happy Birthday and Bon Voyage…looking forward to following along on another one of your wonderful reviews… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Norwaylady Posted July 20 #8 Share Posted July 20 Safe travels🥂💙⚓️ looking forward for this🥳 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare hcat Posted July 20 #9 Share Posted July 20 (edited) Have a Great dbl birthday cruise! Gen Z has grown up before our eyes.. so chic! Edited July 20 by hcat 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KKB Posted July 20 #10 Share Posted July 20 YEAH! Can't wait--have a WONDERFUL time!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lastdance Posted July 20 #11 Share Posted July 20 It is a little too scary having a mini-you? For anyone else maybe, but I doubt it is for you! Yes, I certainly understand the “space” issues, but knowing you it will not be an issue! 🎊Have a wonderful cruise and fantastic birthdays❣️ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbfb Posted July 20 #12 Share Posted July 20 She’s adorable!!! Have a blast! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare DaKahuna Posted July 20 #13 Share Posted July 20 @GenerationX Happy to be fllowing along on yet another of your adventures with Gen Z and wish you bon voyage as you embark on this birthday adventure of making memories for a lifetime with your daughter. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzbo Posted July 20 #14 Share Posted July 20 Yay! Another Gen X LIVE! And with the Gen Z bonus! So glad I found this at the beginning so I don’t have to stay up late playing catch-up. 😊 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPCRUISER22 Posted July 20 #15 Share Posted July 20 Charla, Been waiting for your next review! Always look forward to your cruises with Gen Z. Happy Birthday! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Mrs_Tiki Posted July 20 #16 Share Posted July 20 @GenerationX, it is great to follow along on another of your wonderful reviews. You are always so informative and entertaining. But how is Gen Z so darned grown up? Love that she s bringing her American Girl doll, brings back happy memories of cruises past for us. And so intriguing that she picked X over MSC. She has certainly acquired your penchant for discerning her priorities! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisetonowhere10 Posted July 20 #17 Share Posted July 20 Happily following along…love your style! Happy Birthday. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvcruzing Posted July 20 #18 Share Posted July 20 Looking forward to following along on one of your fabulous Live reviews. And, early happy birthday wishes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare CTSandy Posted July 21 #19 Share Posted July 21 Happy Birthday! What a great way to celebrate with your mini me (and she is such a mini me!). Have an absolutely wonderful time🎂 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare asnaleah Posted July 21 #20 Share Posted July 21 So happy to see your mini-me looking so grown up! Enjoy your cruise and all the memories you will make together! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parrothead33 Posted July 21 #21 Share Posted July 21 Happy birthday Charla! Wishing you and Mini Me a very memorable cruise and I’m looking forward to following along. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxiang Posted July 21 #22 Share Posted July 21 I can't wait! I'm on this cruise with my adult daughter girl trip in two weeks--I can't wait for all your details! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mchell810 Posted July 21 #23 Share Posted July 21 12 hours ago, GenerationX said: In the words of Mini Me: “If I don’t see a palm tree soon, I’m gonna have mental problems!” 🤣 🤣 🤣 It's gonna be a fun week 😀 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare GenerationX Posted July 21 Author #24 Share Posted July 21 Checking in from my bedtime at the Conrad Fort Lauderdale! I stayed in this hotel pre-cruise last month for Reflection as well, so I won’t repost photos of the room, but for anyone interested feel free to go back to that review to check it out. When Jeremy dropped us off at the airport this morning, he said, “have some of those good fish tacos at the Hyatt for me.” When I told him we were staying at the Conrad he said “I thought we agreed you were only gonna spend that kind of money on pre-cruise hotel when sailing lower stateroom classes?” I tried to argue that since we’re sailing in a sky suite that actually is a MUCH lower class than the 3 room suites I’d become accustomed to last month. I bet you can guess how persuasive that argument turned out to be. Our flight out was pretty uneventful once we got airborne. I noticed that our first class flight attendants seemed surprisingly energetic and engaged considering what a rough 24 hours they must’ve had with the system outage yesterday. Then one of the FA’s mentioned that they’d received word from their union late last night that AA has FINALLY come to agreement on the new FA contract! I think I was just as relieved as the FA’s. I have some work travel coming up in fall and was preparing myself that I may have to take trains around the country if a strike went through. After a pricey $150 Uber XL ride (still better than having to change planes to fly into FLL from STL in my opinion) we got to the hotel about 1pm where a bellman greeted our Uber, unloaded our bags and escorted us to check in. All the other times I’ve stayed at this hotel, getting a very early check in hasn’t been a problem, but this time, our room wasn’t ready until the standard 4pm. I was actually glad then that we had the flight delay. It would have been a very long day to kill. As it was, the hotel gave us a key card to access the pool level and opened our account so we could bill drinks and lunch by the pool to our room on check in. Our bellman then took us with all our luggage in tow to a spacious family bathroom off the lobby where Mini Me and I could take our cases inside and change into swimsuits and coverups. Then he loaded our bags back on his cart and put it into storage until we could check in. For our poolside lunch, Gen Z went with the kids chicken tenders and fries and I tried the mesquite smoked wahoo dip which was a huge portion and really good. On my other stays here, poolside food and drink service has been fast and attentive. This time though, it took almost an hour to get food and my first drink and then the server didn’t even make it back to check on us until after we’d checked in a couple hours later and moved to chairs on the other side of the pool. I think the issue was staffing as I only saw 2 servers (whereas in the past there have been at least 4 or 5) juggling the entire pool deck as well as the high top tables by the bar. Once we had our room, I tried on several occasions to make the suggestion of a mommy-daughter late afternoon nap, but the message continually fell on deaf, pool and palm tree obsessed, ears. Our plan for tonight was to doll ourselves up a bit and go to 15th Street Fisheries for dinner (the food there is great BTW and Gen Z loves getting to feed the tarpons from the pier). Instead, when we got back from the pool, I went into the bathroom to change out of my swimsuit and came out to find that apparently our new dinner plan was room service burgers in bed. I’m heavily mourning my loss of fresh seafood dinner, but one thing I’ve learned about Gen Z over the years is that when she’s done with stimuli for the day, she is really done, and it’s best to respect it and let her batteries recharge for the next day. Besides, it’s been a long travel day and we have 6 straight nights of fancy dinners out ahead of us. A little rest and junk food to kick things off won’t hurt. To me room service food is about convenience rather than culinary excellence, so I wasn’t expecting too much from it. The burger wasn’t the best I’ve ever had but I’ve definitely had worse and it came with really well seasoned, piping hot French fries. Once Gen Z finished every crumb of her sliders and fries and 80% of the chicken wing appetizer she were supposed to be “sharing”, she dozed off quickly. That gave mama a chance to finish her night (and glass of room service Cabernet) chin deep in a bubble bath watching true crime documentaries on Netflix on my phone. I’m just about to tuck myself into bed for our big day tomorrow. The plan is to sleep in a bit (to recover from our 2am alarm time this morning) and then head to the pier about 10am for a light continental breakfast in the retreat embarkation lounge. 27 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare chemmo Posted July 21 #25 Share Posted July 21 (edited) Loving to follow…have a wonderful cruise! I am not in the least surprised your daughter opted for Celebrity over MSC…She clearly has her priorities for R & R and good food over crowds and activities! Many years ago we took our then early teens son on his first Celebrity Cruise after years on RC. We were surprised when he described the experience as ‘better’ than RC reasons being ‘quieter pool area, better food and nicer staff…’ PS my next cruise is with my son and fiancée…He is now nearing forty and we still enjoy family cruises! Needless to say, on Celebrity! Edited July 21 by chemmo 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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