Lunastella

Thanks Sunpsyche. Its quite a contrast from my academic papers, if you need to go to sleep fast, they will do it!

Thanks Kathy. This is our 7th cruise, plus numerout landtrips. I'm a lucky to have such like minded travel companions.

Hi Donna, Glad you survived the trip up. I was somewhat glad of my choice as the taxi driver tried to negotiate those hills.

AH I love Nice, still buy them!

I think we made the wise decision so. DS and I could probably have managed, not sure about DM. Glad you are enjoying the report Scottishclover!

Pity he wasn't made the godfather!!!

Day 3 - Villefranche, France (South of…but more east) I was awoken at 5am to a very strange sound. Was there a banshee on the water?? Was the ship sinking?? Nope, DS didn’t fully close the fridge and it went into overdrive, although it took us a good 10 mins to figure that out. Fridge fixed but I was already awake and couldn’t go back to sleep. Ah well, perhaps not such a good sleep after all. I got up just before 7am and headed ALL the way across and up to the gym for a short warm-up on the treadmill and a 45min training session via Alice’s app (full body today, what fun!). We were already in port so I could access the App via my 4G (the ship’s basic wifi just isn’t strong enough for Alice). The gym is still pretty quiet this morning. Gym selfie (the only one I promise…probably) Today we are in Villefranche (close to Nice, the town that is not the biscuits for those on this side of the Atlantic). Tenders to port were already open by the time I left the gym at 8, via the Spa Café for a takeaway coffee (this was a really good find, the coffee from the machine is actually pretty passable. I never have coffee right after a workout….how has it taken me this long to discover this! DS and DM were already up and chilling on the balcony admiring the views. Villefranche is such a pretty port. Keen to try all breakfast options onboard, we headed back to the Spa Café at 9 – there is only a limited selection but it was perfect for us after our feast last night – a small fruit plate, half a bagel with peanut butter, banana and blueberries, and a courgette muffin (tastes better than it sounds trust me), and coffee, always more coffee. A lovely spread In a lovely space We had intended to meet my DH’s aunt and uncle who were holidaying in Villfranche at the same time (what a coincidence!), but their flight home from Nice was cancelled so they had to take the early train to Paris instead…..at least that was their excuse….. So instead we decided to visit the Jarden Exotique in Eze. We have been to most of the villages in this area before but never been to Eze. Eze it was. Google told me it was a 23min walk, then a 15 min bus ride. Easy…or so we thought. Tender to port selfie And solo And view When we reached the port building, I asked about buying bus tickets at the info desk and I was told in no uncertain terms that we could NOT walk to the Eze bus stop – apparently that 23min walk is actually a 45min hike up a mountain with no path…Google doesn’t tell you that! So rather than taking two connecting buses, I checked Uber - €17 for the three of us all the way to Eze sounds like a bargain (the two buses alone would have cost €9). After a 4 min wait, inexcusable, the taxi arrived and we were whisked anyway up, up, and up and across the hills to Eze. The views were stunning along the way. Bono (of U2 fame) has a house somewhere in Eze but I can’t see him here today. The driver left us at the entrance to the old town, then we climbed up through the old village to the gardens (which had to be at the very very top, of course it did!). The entrance fee to the gardens is only €6pp and you can buy the tickets from a machine at the base of the old village which saves you having to queue at the garden entrance. We need to get up there! Walking through the old town of Eze (pretty, pretty, pretty) But if you have any mobility issues it might be best to give the gardens a miss as there are lots of steps, but as a result, the views from up here are amazing! Can just about make out Beyond in the distance The Jardin Exotique are not your typically French gardens, they mainly contain cacti and succulents. But they are definitely worth a trip, if only for the views!! I have thousands of photos, I wont torture you with them all. Selected few Help there is something growing out of my head! There are also well-placed sculptures around the gardens. DM is very very patient with us when we take photos... please get out of the shot.... and keep going... go I'll just change angle... Public health announcement - there is not a lot of shade up here, so come prepared. I topped up on the suncream along the way and there are fountains with drinking water available in the gardens…although no toilets surprisingly… There are public toilets close to the gardens but they were closed today for some reason. Starting to regret all that coffee….after admiring the gardens, taking so many photos that DM almost gave up on us… I quickly hiked back down to the newer part of the old town to use the public toilets down there (€0.50). DS and DM took a leisurely stroll down. Had I not had to scramble back down through the old town I would have spent more time exploring the little art galleries and shops…um…maybe it’s just as well….my bank account can thank me later. Feeling suitably relieved, I decided to drink some more! We stopped off at a local bar for a cool drink and we make some plans. It was probably a bit early….but the small…tiny really…beer was very refreshing, plus they gave us snacks! Beer and tapenade So what’s in the plan??? Where is the schedule??? You may have noticed, but we don’t deal well with spontaneity. Option 1 – a tour of a perfume factory followed by lunch in Eze; Option 2 - back to the ship in time for lunch in Eden café, and then head out later to the beach in Villefranche-sue-mer. We opted for the former or is it the latter, I always get it mixed up. Basically, we decided to head back to the ship. Eze was getting really busy as all the tour buses started to descend. We were glad to get there so early while it was still quiet. After an interminable 4min wait for an Uber….(so efficient) and a slightly dearer trip (€21- supply and demand you know), we were back at the port in about 20 minutes. It looks like lots of others are heading back in and lots of others are heading back out too. Villeranche itself is a lovely town Tender waiting for us I see a ship Did someone mention lunch? Our server in Eden on Day 1 told us that the café opens for lunch everyday until 1.30 and I am so glad she did as we never would have figured that out ourselves (well I guess we could have looked at the app, or looked at the daily planner, ok ok we should have figured it out). So Eden it was! While there we took advantage of its emptiness (does no-one else know about this place???) to take some photos of this great space. We discovered so many cool areas to chillout, read a book, watch the sea….definitely coming back here. It reminds me of the Crow’s nest on HAL ships which we love. Eden photo series And one more for luck In terms of food, there is not a big offering, but they have salads and sandwiches (pre-made or bespoke). DS and I got a lovely gorgonzola salad with loads of leaves!!! Finally! Plus some crusty bread and butter, and a glass of rose, all served in about 1.5mins. DM got a carvery sandwich, possible with roast pork. Amazing service and a beautiful location. We shared some chocolate cake and a mini brownie, they were less good, too dry, but we ate them regardless, of course we did! Lunch OK it’s about pool time! Hang on, hang on, you say, what about the beach in Villefranche??? As suspected, all plans to head back out and go to the beach were shelved….I knew this would happen, once back onboard it takes a lot of effort to get off again, plus we are lazy, plus there is no sand in the solarium, plus they have padded loungers in the solarium! No padded loungers on the beach. But boy was it hot in here today, and in the end I gave up and had to find a shaded spot on the pool deck… DS texting me for some pool time, better go…. That was refreshing, now more lounging. We headed back to the cabin at about 6.30 to get ready for our dinner in Fine Cut (our second speciality restaurant which focuses on….you guessed it). We tried to get out on deck to take the obligatory pre-dinner photo shots, but for some reason we couldn’t find a way out! I could have sworn we got out on deck 5 last night….maybe the cocktail (purple rain which we picked up somewhere also the way) was stronger than I thought. Ah well, to the Martini bar instead. Pre-dinner drinks At this point I was starving, I hadn’t eaten anything since lunch at 1 and dinner was at 8….7hrs of no food, what happened, I thought I was on a cruise!!!! But my strategy worked, I really was hungry for tonight’s dinner. Fine Cut Our initial table Menu We were seated at a pretty dark table initially so I asked if we could move to a window seat….not a problem at all madam…just a few minutes wait madam while clear a table…so friendly, so helpful. And boy was it was worth the wait for this fantastic view of Villefranche in evening light. Villefranche view DM looking happy During dinner we set sail and watched as the pilot boat rode alongside us before making a U-turn. Big jump now! The food was very good, not quite as good as Eden, but better than Normandie, but still very good. I had tomato and burrata salad to start, followed by a 6oz fillet mignon and we shared sides of asparagus, parmesan fries, and mushrooms. The steak was so tender. Salad Steak All the sides! Dessert was the largest ice-cream sundae in history, bigger than DM’s head. I did not finish it. To future self – sharing is caring We had a lovely malbec with dinner followed by some dessert wine, but at that stage I was so full I couldn’t even finish it. Dessert wine Feeling suitably stuffed, there was no way we could make it to the silent disco (as planned). Instead, I went for a walk on the jogging/walking track. A couple of other people were up there but I pretty much had it to myself and I enjoyed the night air and the beautiful ship. I would sleep well!

Ah I see, thanks!

Hi Lilghallinsf, I'm an academic so I do lecture plus do reserach, you so were right! Thanks for your positive comments about the review. I'm sure prices on Beyond will fall once a new ship come out!

Ha, try getting that through security now!!!

Day 2 - Afternoon/evening onboard How is it 3pm already! Time to chill-out (it’s in the diary afterall). Quick trip to the cabin for bikini, laptop, kindle, music, ipods, iphone….anything else….water, sun cream, sunglasses,…. God a relaxing afternoon by the pool takes some organising. I went to the solarium while DS and DM went to deck 15. I figured I needed less sun cream in the solarium…can I burn through glass??? Must google it. Once there, I started writing *this review* I was way behind, possible do not trust anything you read up to this point... Let me see, do I have anything else to report from this afternoon… I had some brief reprieves in the pool to cool down…..the solarium was pretty empty…. I looked at some shipping containers……Captain Kate did a ‘horn off’ with a MSC ship when we were leaving port. I think we won?? How does one know exactly? Ah looks like I had a lemondrop at some stage I headed back to the cabin at 6.30 to get ready – it was ‘chic’ night and we had a packed agenda ahead of us – production show at 7.30, hopefully meet Capital Kate at the opening of Cartier at 8.30, dinner 8.45 in Normandie, pride party at 10.15. Who said holidays are relaxing! Some quiet time on the balcony first Can you believe we actually managed to achieve everything on our agenda! The Spanish champagne (bought in Barcelona) helped us on our way through showering, dressing and obligatory pre-dinner outfit shots on a very windy deck 5. I have to say, our cabin attendant, Munir, is so lovely, very chatty and eager to help. He heard us talking about wine and offered to give us some wine which a previous guest had given to him, so sweet, but we declined as we had our Barcelona haul. DS rocking the curly hair Me just rocking (windy out there) The show at 7.30 was called ‘Stage Door’ – think West End classics, all singing, all dancing, I really enjoyed it. We sat upstairs and it was easy to find free seats. Show photos We were also introduced to the senior management team by Captain Kate. Captain Kate and her team Next up, the opening of the Cartier shop – did we have any intention of buying a Cartier watch? Nope. Did we want to meet the Captain, hell yeah! The first female US captain of a major cruise ship, of course we did. Last year, I set up the Irish Society for Women in Economics to promote the voice and profile of female economists as my industry is pretty male dominated, just like shipping, so I really appreciate the work that Captain Kate does for her industry. The champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries were flowing, nice touch, but I still didn’t buy a watch. However, we did get to meet Captain Kate albeit briefly! Highlight of the trip perhaps! We rushed for our dinner in Normandie, the App says it closes at 9am (it was 8.50), but I guess that means last seating at 9 as there were lots of other people heading in at the same time. Normandie Also a nice room Dinner was abit of a whirlwind as we were still in a tizzy about meeting the captain, plus the champagne. The food was pretty good, not ‘Eden’ good, but still very acceptable. I had Coquilles Saint Jacques, followed by beef tenderloin en croute (with extra veg on the side, gotta have broccoli every day), and some After-eight ice-cream to finish (I too full and it was too late for a real dessert (ice cream doesn’t count right?) Menu - I got (half) a german menu for some reason... Coquilles Saint Jacque Beef tenderloin Ice-cream (best ice-cream onboard) The dinner view More interesting art outside It was just after 10pm by the time we left (we were almost the last people in the dining room). But that means we were just in time for the Pride Party which was taking place in the Rooftop Garden. Initially, there were not too many people on the dance floor, but we gave it our best shot, and slowly more and more people joined the party. We danced away until midnight, there were a lot of flags, a lot of glow sticks, and a lot of fun. As this was an outdoor event I felt pretty safe dancing surrounded by other people. Bed time now….what a day Fun on the Rooftop

Hi Hawkesbaynz Yes there is a mini al bacio in the Oceanview cafe, so you can get better coffee there. Dont get me started on the Irish tea! DM brought her own teabags!!!! Enoy the trip in Sept, you will have a fab time!!!

Yep, as Shmn says, there is outdoor seating in Oceanview, but we didn't use it on this trip.

Thanks Black forest. Cant believe I am only on Day 2, I better get a move on!

Hi Scottishclover I'm from Ireland, and very fair skinned, and I survive, I just use alot of suncream. It was about 27 degrees when we were in Barcelona and the South of France but it got up to 32 degrees when we got down to Naples. If you go in May or Sept, I'd say the weather would be perfect.

Hi Redking Cruising in New Zeland is on my bucket list for sure, someday! Completely agree with you regards the coffee. I think I became and even greater coffee snob during lockdown when the highlight of my day was a walk and takeaway coffee. Thanks for this tip about Cafe al Bacio, I must ask next time!

Day 2 Marseille, France (South of) Morning in Marseille On the plus side, I slept better than the night before, but I still didn’t have a great night’s sleep even though I had a real bed (DS is super, she took the sofabed!). Very comfortable beds by the way. I got up at about 6.45am and headed up to deck 15 (forward) to the gym. I had to walk the entire length of the ship to get there (but only 2 decks up), guess that’s my warm-up sorted so! There were a few others in the gym but it was not busy at all. I did a short warm-up on the treadmill, followed by 45mins of strength training (upper body day) using the app “Give me Strength” by Alice Living which I took up during lockdown when the gyms closed. All I really needed was free weights, but they are in pounds (!!!) and I my weights are in kilograms, arghhh, its way too early to do math! The conversion meant I ever had to go heavier or lighter…. I went lighter, I am on holiday after all. Loads of treadmills Pretty quiet in here I was back in the cabin by 8.00. DS and DM were already up and ready for breakfast (DS did about 4km in the walking track which goes between deck 14 and 15 (3 laps =1 km). As I am not a fan of buffets (I may have mentioned this before), I persuaded them to go to the Cosmopolitan dining room for breakfast. If you are not in a suite (and can go to Luminea) or in Aquaclass (and can go to Blu….I think?), it’s the only place you can have breakfast served to you. Yes, please. It closes at 9.30 so no long leisurely lie-in’s if that’s your thing. It was pretty empty – again I have no idea if this is due to the low numbers of board, or people prefer the buffet, or simple they are still in bed (or off the ship already)! Cosmo (where we went to breakfast every few days) Lovely room We got a lovely table by the window, the coffee, juice (grapefruit, always grapefruit) and pastries (mini, but who’s counting) were flowing! Keep the coffee coming! DS looking pretty refreshed this morning I had a fruit plate followed by a bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon. We agreed that we should simple share a fruit plate in future as there is too much for one person. I also suggested sharing the bagel but that was more a controversial suggestion apparently. Fruit plate Bagel, cream cheese, salmon Overall, a nice breakfast, relaxed, friendly service, we will be back. Some interesting art outside. OK, back to the cabin to sun cream head to toe and pick up our stuff for a morning in Marseille. We passed the grand plaza on the day, so here is a photo of it during the day time (there was always someone there cleaning all the glass!!!). Grand plaza by day The South of France, and especially the area around Marseille, is where we go for most of our land-based holidays, so we didn’t feel any pressure to do any of the main excursions from this port e.g. Provence (we normally base ourselves in St Remy de Provence). Instead, we were just going to do a walking tour of Marseille city. The ship docks in the commercial port in Marseille, which is a couple of km from the old port. Celebrity provides shuttle buses for $12 return (which we took), not realising that the port also provides a free shuttle bus to the city if you just walk a few meters to the port entrance, all well, next time! The buses dropped us off quite a distance from the start of our planned 2hr guided walking tour. The bus leaves you at the cathedral. Near here: Outside Inside As we were too earlier for our tour, we slowly wandered around the new museums which were not there the last time we visited the city. In general, Marseille looks very different from our last visit which was probably 10yrs ago. We do fly into Marseille airport regularly, but we head straight to St. Remy de Provence rather than staying in the city. Marseille was the European city of culture in 2013 and they invested €250m in improving the image of the city and reclaiming its old buildings, building new museums etc. It looks great now. It used to have a pretty dodgy image, but I always liked it regardless. Looks even better now. The old fort We decided to do one of the free (tip-based) walking tours. It started at 11.00 and ended about 1.30. It was ok, not great, there were too many people on it which made it hard to hear the guide. We started walking through the old port (which was largely decimated during WW2 save for a few buildings), then we headed into the Le Panier district which has been totally gentrified in the last few years. Next we had 10mins to explore the cathedral, before ending up at the fort (where there is a public toilet, finally!!!). A selection of photos from our walking tour DS had booked lunch for a restaurant on the other side the city, but the tour ended so close to the shuttle buses, and it was hot, and DM was tired, and did I mention it was hot, so we decided to head back to the ship for lunch instead. But first a photo in the fort Near the bus stop The only problem was that we arrived back after 2pm and lunch options are very limited at that stage – Eden café was closed (disaster), Spa café closed (disaster), so Oceanview buffet it would have to be (boo)….and we would have to be fast, it closes at 2.30! Rush for the food, quick……….but first time a table….by the window…..nice view Lunch view I got a salad with lots and lots of lettuce, I had to keep asking the server to give me abit more, a bit more, until eventually just said, fill the plate with lettuce until you cant fit anymore. Who needs 2 sorry leaves of lettuce?? Keep it coming please. I ended up going to 3 or 4 different stations to complete the salad, not an easy option, but tasty ok. Salad, with some potato salad and chicken salad, and bread….always bread Not wanting to make the same mistake again, we headed down to Café al Bacio to try the coffee and afternoon cakes in the hope they would be better than the offerings in Oceanview, and indeed they were. The carrot cake gets the thumbs up, even the coffee was ok. DS and DM also loved the mini tarts – lemon & fruit methinks. Cake!

Hi Star Chic night was night 2 and if memory serves (which it may not) I think it was night 8.....

Ha, thanks!

Hi Bdstickks I suspect they have no idea of the true numbers anyway!!!

I would have loved that! I wonder why it is not an option on Beyond? Maybe I just missed it, but guest relations didn't seem to know anything about it.

Thank you for your lovely comment Jim! I know that most people are no longer into 'dressing for dinner' but if I don't wear these dresses on a cruise I never will. Any excuse to dress up! I was actually very close to Herbert Park today on my way to a reunion lunch in Sandymount, such a lovely part of the city! I hope you enjoyed your time in Dublin.

Hi Lena I agree, so hard! The best place I have found for fish and chips is Dunmore East in Waterford...but its a long way to go for fish and chips! I see that Celebrity have one or two sailings stopping off there next year, so if you are desperate for good fish and chips, its an option!

Hi Mauimary You will have a fab time, the ports are wonderful! I hate packing, although I hate unpacking even more. I managed to fit in 3 clothes change per day for 10 days in 17.5kg, a miracle!

Thank you!