NOTE: this is posted on the morning of Day 2, September 25th.
This is my first attempt at any type of blog while we are on our Beyond B2B from Rome to Barcelona and return. I’m usually just a lurker but feel inspired to share my experiences to possibly help someone on their Beyond journey. I take great inspiration from @Jim_Iain and his helpful advise to the questions I have had over the years. This will be live(ish) because on our down days, I may not have much information to share. Please feel free to ask any questions that you may have and I will do my best to answer them all. But because this is my first time, please be gentle with me.
A little background. We are a group of 6…my DH, my BIL and SIL and our best friends from our many, many years in the Army. We have cruised between 22-25 times either on RC or Celebrity. We are Elite Plus but doubt that we will ever be able to reach Zenith status 😜. We are from Bluffton, SC, while our family is from Goshen, NY, and our friends are from Tucson, AZ. This was our “Covid” cruise that was cancelled in March 2020 and while we were not able to duplicate our original cruise stops, we decided to try the Beyond and make it a B2B. We have 9 excursions planned with various private vendors so I will provide that information for your information. Hopefully, this information will help someone in the future. We have several duplicate ports, so will have the opportunity to see something different on those days or stay on board and relax.
First, a few words on Flights by Celebrity. We booked our flights in December 2021 with FBC and got a great price…$3880 for round-trip, business class tickets for both of us from Newark to Barcelona (through Frankfurt) on Lufthansa and return from Barcelona to Newark (through Heathrow) on British Air. While our flights went without a hitch (except for a slight delay out of Newark), I’m not sure we would book with them again. After we booked, we had until July to pay in full but we wanted to ensure that we wouldn’t lose our seats so we made payment in full in March. After reading several horror stories on Cruise Critic about FBC not ticketing flights even after final payment, I called them in April and asked for our electronic ticket numbers. And surprise, they had not been ticketed. According to the agent, you have to REQUEST for your tickets to be ticketed…even if paid in full. This makes no sense to me since Celebrity has all of the ticket money. 😖 It took several calls to them before the flights were ticketed and I got the electronic ticket information. It didn’t inspire confidence that things would go smoothly but, in the end, it did. All that being said, I’m not sure the stress was worth the anxiety. Just my two cents.
We arrived in Barcelona on the day before our cruise started and booked a half-day Barcelona City Tour with transfer to our Hotel with Barcelona Day Tours. The price was €59 per person for a four-hour tour. The communication between BCT was incredible. Every question and change to our plans was answered quickly and efficiently. I would not hesitate to use them again. Our driver was on-time for our pick-up at the airport where we had a Mercedes van that fit the six of us comfortably with all of our luggage. 😳 We started our tour with city highlights and a stop at Sagrada Familia and then a stop at Park Guell before being dropped off at our hotel. We stayed at the Radisson Blu 1882 near the Sagrada Familia. This was a lovely hotel and very clean. I would not hesitate to stay there again. They also had a wonderful buffet breakfast. The only caveat would be that if you were staying there on your fist night and want an early night because of jet lag, it is very hard to find a place close that serves dinner before 8-8:30pm.
The next morning we were again picked up by the same driver from Barcelona Day Tours for a 5-hour tour to Montserrat (again, €59 per person). Rain was expected all day but it turned out to be a beautiful day. After touring the Basilica, we took the funicular to the top of Montserrat for €15 per person, round trip. Spectacular views and tour.
After Montserrat, we arrived to port at 1:20ish for our 1:30-2:00 arrival slot. We are in a Sky Suite so after passing through baggage screening, we proceeded to the left for Retreat passengers. Check-in took about 5 minutes and we were on the ship. One note regarding the health screening. They only asked if you were vaccinated and boosted; they did not ask for proof of those things.
Luminae closes for lunch at 2pm on embarkation day so after our first drink in the Retreat Lounge, we went to the Ocean View Buffet for a quick bite. It was busy but not overly crowded. A quick salad and then a tour of the ship and sail away on the Retreat Sundeck. Announcements were made several times about passengers who had not reported to and completed muster so we were delayed from departing by 1 hour! 😯
After a quick unpack and shower, we went to see the comedian, Frank Townsend, at the 7:30 show. He was very good…a little slow in the middle and then picked up again at the end. After the show, we made it to Luminae for dinner around 8:40. The place was packed. The twosome in front of us was given a pager and told it would be an approximate 20 minute wait. We were seated immediately at a 6-top. Several in our group are foodies (I am not 😜) so I was going to ask about menus from other dining rooms; however, the waiter preempted me by telling us about the appetizers and mains that are now available every day in Luminae in addition to their daily menu offerings.
My attempt was to get this posted on the first; sadly, I failed. 😞 Today, we are in Marseille and plan to take the ship’s shuttle bus ($12 per person to Sea Pass Account) to the city center and walk around for a bit. We have a private tour for here planned on our return trip.
I’ll update again later and if you have any questions, I’ll be glad to try and answer. I’m still trying to figure out how to post pictures. 😉
