Lunastella

Hi Shelley I got this dress almost 20yrs ago in Urban Outfitters, so I doubt they still have it online. Its such a useful dress, the perfect LBD (even though its grey and 100% silk so needs to go to the drycleaners all the time, but a classic no less!)

Day 1 Part D The Evening (don’t worry, not all days will come in 3 segments!) We had booked Eden for 8pm, and it was about 6.30 at this point, so time for a lie down, shower, change of clothes, and out the cabin door again. But first our daily pre-dinner photoshoot - this time on the balcony. Hey, why I am bigger than everyone else! Eden (deck 5) was amazing from start to finish, we had definitely started on a high food wise – great food, great service, great view, what more could you want? Service was well paced and friendly, and the sommelier went out of his way to find us a wine that was included in the classic package. Plus the wine kept flowing. I remember waiting up to 30mins for a drink on previous ships, but not anymore, not on Beyond, some advantages to the reduced capacity I guess. Speaking of capacity, I have no idea how many people are onboard, I heard rumours of ~1600 but I cannot verify. Dinner with a view Bar in Eden Complete with swinging chairs We started with an amuse bouche of watermelon, then I had jumbo crab cakes, followed by lobster casserole, lemon tart, and petit fours and decaf coffee. 10 out of 10! Fine food, fine wine, fine company, fine sunset, what a perfect way to end our first day… Menu Watermelon Crab cakes (amazing) Lobster casserole DM’s lamb Lemon tart (looked better than tasted, just because everything else was excellent) Petit four Love the décor in Eden. DS matched! After dinner, DS and DM went to the theatre, I think, all I know is that I ended up sitting on deck outside Eden, watching the sunset and finishing my wine…what an amazing end to our first day. What a view On the way back to our cabin we went through the grand plaza and saw some signing/dancing but didn’t stay long….bed calls. Grand plaza

Day 1 Part C Afternoon on the ship Right, now lunch. Oceanview Café it was. I am not a big (or small) fan of buffets, but there was nowhere else to go at that stage. Oceanview on Beyond is very well spaced out, there are lots of different stations, the décor is lovely (including Silestone quartz on some of the tables, it’s the exact same one I am considering using for my new house, great minds and all that!). Liking the décor in here – Art Deco(ish) Obviously, you cannot pick up the food yourself anymore, this helps with restraint (good) but takes ages (bad). Normally, salads are my to go to for lunch (as you shall see), but today they had Indian butter chicken, so in honour of DH (husband) who is not with us (on the cruise that is, not in general), I had some butter chicken with rice and a roti, and a glass of white wine (sauvignon blanc I think). It was pretty good, could have been hotter in terms of both heat and spice. DM had a very very small portion of fish and chips (not good at all she reports) and DS had…had….I have no idea, I was concentrating on my butter chicken. I wouldn’t normally have dessert at lunch time, but I’m on a ship, on vacation, on a ship, so I had some lovely chocolate cake, top marks. DS and DM were less impressed with their cake choices (this will be a theme). The coffee was passable, but my expectations were already low. I live 100 meters from the worlds’ best coffee shop (in a shipping container no less), so I’m spoilt for great coffee. Sidenote: at some point we watched the safety video and went to our muster station. Butter Chicken & Rice Choc Cake Sunbed time! Obviously not actually in the sun for me (have you seen my Irish complexion!), but you get the gist. Deck 15 has some lovely quiet (and shaded) areas near the glass plunge pool (oh have I mentioned the see-through plunge pools yet….its basically a plunge pool, that’s well yeah, see-through, but you can see the sea…so it’s like an infinity pool on a ship…kind of). We had a dip, very cool and very refreshing! Then relaxed, listening to music, enjoyed the first afternoon onboard. DS may or may not have had a spicy margarita cocktail, I stuck to water. All water comes in aluminum cans Infinity plunge pool was nice and cool For sailaway we headed up to the Sunset Bar which was hopping, it was the only place yet to be ‘hopping’. There was a DJ and a sax player, the atmosphere was lovely, nothing crazy, just happy people happy to be on the water again, leaving the beautiful port of Barcelona behind. Sunset bar We were slightly windswept but having fun I love container ships….and will spend much of this trip looking at them as you will see…..I’m trying to figure out how to make this my next research project, although I don’t exactly work on international trade, I’m not that kind of economist. What are in them, where are they going, where did the come from??? We sat, we swayed, we may have even danced, and we managed to get an aperol spritz (only $1 extra with classic package). We had some slight difficulties walking ‘straight’ back to the cabin…either the ship was moving (it was) or the aperol was a little strong (??). I’m not saying. Refreshing

Hi Tudy There is lots more to come, so hopefully some of it will be useful to you and your friends. I had a great time and loved the ship, but it was my first real holiday in 2.5yrs so I would have been happy with a dinghy to be honest! It was expensive but less expensive than we intially paid as I saw a price drop and too advantage of that.

Hey HCat There is a book in all the cabins which lists all the art (and the artist) on the ship, but that's it, no further info. We asked at Guest Relations about an art tour, but there is none apparently, which is a shame as there is some really interesting pieces onboard I would have like to learn more about.

Thank you very much for your kind words Cruise47...lots more to come!

Thanks Banp407! I'm not funny in real life at all....just ask DS and DM!

Yes Howth is a lovely seaside town that's less than 30min by train from the city centre. Lots of nice walks (and golf courses) and fish and chip shops of course!

Thanks JeriGail. It depended on the outside temperature. When we were in the south of france (where is was abit cooler than south of Italian), the solarium wasn't too hot. That said, if you stay on the shaded areas at the side, its fine most of the time.

Day 1 Part B We are on the ship! We made it! Beyond (again) Straight up to deck 12 where we walked and walked and walked back to our cabin - 12288 – aft – sunset veranda – our first time in a sunset cabin! Our keycards were waiting for us just outside. The long walk…get those steps in The cabin was bigger than any we have travelled in before (remember we never stayed in a suite) and trust me when 3 adults are sharing a small space this is important. The balcony is huge – with space for 2 sun loungers, 2 chairs and a table! Do you want to see pics of the cabin now or later??? Ok, ok, I hear you. Lovely calming colours Lots of floor space Nice art in the cabins too Decent sized bathroom The sunset balcony Sorry its really hard to take proper photos of the size of the balcony unless I grow wings....it didn't happen. Ok its time to explore before it gets too busy…although this, it turns out, would never be a problem. Initial impressions are good, very stylish, contemporary, muted colours (if you ignore the big orange thing), loads of art (which may or may not be to your taste, depending on your taste, but I liked it). We decided to start at the top (deck 15) and work our way down….we managed 2 decks….pool, solarium, rooftop garden, magic carpet….before stopping for our first prosecco. Is it too early for a glass of celebratory bubbles? Probably, but it has been 2.5yrs! Prosecco in hand we sent the obligatory look at us, we are on vacation (on a ship), drinking prosecco (on a ship), in 28-degrees (on a ship), photo to the family WhatsApp group. I will show some photos of the ship now, but others will follow. The elephant again Loungers in the pool There are a huge variety of seating and lounging areas on the Resort Deck Here And here And here And even here (what's that big orange thing???) Where I spend most of my afternoons Loved this...on way too.... The Magic Carpet First drinks onboard While exploring the Rooftop Garden (with real plants and herbs!), we saw a host at the entrance to the Rooftop restaurant….perfect, one more job to finalise before we can truly relax…book food! We had already purchased the 5-night speciality dining package, but as we had a package we couldn’t prebook any of the restaurants beforehand. We were worried that all the popular ones like Eden would be booked out (although not overly worried, we are on a ship afterall!). That said, with a little bit of flexibility with times and days we were able to book everything we planned… almost– Eden for today, and then a speciality restaurant for every subsequent day (Fine Cut, La Voyage, Rooftop, and La Voyage again), we wanted Eden again but it was booked out for the rest of the cruise). Rooftop Garden Plunge pool near the gardens OK, job done, time for lunch! Oh hang on, time for unpacking, boo, DS normally does this for me, but it looks like C19 served as a natural break, all rules off, and I had to unpack myself this time. The wardrobe space looked very small, but we managed to fit in an inordinate amount of clothes. Loads of storage space for all the random bits too. Our cabin attendance, Munir, stopped by to say hello and we asked for more hangers and towels as the room was only set up for 2 people. Big question, who would have to sleep on the sofa bed….somehow I always manage to avoid it, but C19, natural break etc etc, all rules off, so who knows… All fits just about

Hi Sgmn, I also took advantage of the fresh coffee in the Spa cafe- every day right after the gym it was my first stop! I think Eden, followed by Le Yoyage, and then Fine Cut would be my order of preference for the specality restaurants. Thanks Reel Love. Welcome along! Thanks Lastdance, there will be more...thanks for following along. I hope my commentary and photos are useful. I realise that 2 people may have very different experiences even on the same cruise depending on what you like/don't like, but I really enjoyed Beyond. There were way more positives on this cruise than my previous ones. Jealous! Can I go again!

Thanks! Hopefully it will give you some idea about what to expect next year!

Thanks Bluews. Reflection was my first cruise (also from Rome), so it holds a special place in my cruise heart. Howth is lovely, the cliff walk is one of our favourites, you must get back soon!

Hi Sgadk87, No noise at all, you will be fine, just alot of steps!

Dear Teabag (Barry's or Lyons??? its an irish joke) Thank you for your lovely comments. Indeed, I am from Dublin, born and bred. I hope you had a fabulous time in Dublin - a great place for pancakes in Dublin is Alma, just off the South Circular road....epic pancakes! If you want any other foodie recommendations let me know.

Day 1 Part A - Barcelona, Spain – To the ship! Dismal sleep but it doesn’t matter, plenty of time for relaxing and snoozing by the sea when onboard. Up early for a run around Barcelona before it gets too warm and before the crowds hit. Its only 7am but boy is it still hot already. Running in 23-degree heat when you are used in <10-degrees is no joke. I took it easy, stopped, took some photos, ran, took some photos. I ran down to the beach at Barceloneta, there were lots of runners, but still pretty quiet overall. The W - someday maybe... Sweaty business this running Empty beach I was back by 7.30 and DS and DM were ‘mostly’ up. DS said she was ‘planning’ while in bed. In fairness she had booked breakfast in Milk & Co, but it didn’t open until 9.00, so we just wandered the streets of the Gothic quarter where the street washers were out in force. First time not wearing a coat in 2.5yrs (I jest, but almost true). This was right beside the hotel Me and a door Plaça Reial I Plaça Reial II Plaça Reial with DM and DS Milk & Co is a kinda trendy brunch place, but the staff were super friendly, and the prices a whole lot lower than Dublin. I had pancakes with Greek yoghurt, bananas, walnuts, and some honey, very tasty, but very huge, I could not finish it. Best of all, €1.60 for an americano….yes you heard me right, €1.60!!! More than double that in Dublin. Milk & Co Coffee Breakfast pancakes Yeah, don't know either...ambience Next stop, wine! Yes yes I know what you are thinking, it’s a bit early, well you say, they ARE Irish, but no we say, we do not drink alcohol quite so early, even on holiday. Rather, we wanted to pick up some ‘nice’ wine to bring onboard in case the wines included on the Classic package were not up to scratch. We found a lovely wine shop ‘Vila Viniteca’ which was open very early. I told the very knowledgeable owner that we would like a Spanish rose (while in Spain and all that) and a champagne (well we will be in France soon). He encouraged us to try a sparking Spanish wine, not a cava, but a new variety I haven’t heard of before (later note: it was excellent, but have no idea what it was called). First job of the day done. Next, we stopped by a pharmacy for even more sunscreen (you can never have enough, have you seen the colour of me) and face masks (again you can never have enough). Wine! The hotel was only a few mins walk from the shuttle bus stop to the cruise terminal, but we didn’t know exactly where it was, so unencumbered by luggage (apart from the wine, sun cream and facemasks), we went to find the bus stop…just in case. Found it, another job done. Now back to the hotel to pack up the few lasts bits for check out at 11. Shuttle bus to the cruise port Burdened down on La Ramblas Hauling our suitcases down those 4 flights of stairs was just as much fun as hauling them up. Figured it would count as my strength training for the day. Damn, we just missed the bus! Had to wait about 15-20mins for the next. Note you can buy the tickets onboard, but you have to have cash (€3) each. The excitement was palatable…I see the ship….I am closer to the ship….I am almost on the ship. I spy something beginning with B Beyond!! There was no waiting around when we reached the terminal building. We had already checked in online, so we just had to go through all the documents with a representative - vaccine cert – check; passport – check; negative antigen test - check; health questionnaire - check…swiftly followed by, you may procced directly to the ship. I would say it was about 10 minutes in total. We boarded just before midday. OK so

Thanks for the encouragement! One of the advantaged of the aft cabins is that you can easily get your step count up without even trying! DS wanted to try Bistro, but I said no...next time. I liked the style in Tuscan, it was dark and arty!

We didn't experience any noise at all from the deck above.

Pre-cruise travel day – Dublin to Barcelona Initially we planned to take an early morning flight from Dublin to Barcelona on the day of the cruise (risky!), but Dublin airport, like many airports around the world, is a disaster at the moment due to staff shortages. I have taken multiple flights for work trips in the last 8 weeks and every single one had some delays/hassles, I even missed an entire trip to Paris as I was queuing outside the terminal building for 2.5hrs before being turned away passport in hand...no Paris for me. The government even had to intervene as 4,000 passengers, including me, missed their flight that day. So taking no chances, we changed our ‘day-of-the-cruise’ morning flight to a day-before-the-cruise’ afternoon flight. Also, 4.50pm was a much more respectable time to fly than 6.30am. That said, we still left home pretty early that morning as we had a multi-stop journey to the airport – tram to the city, C19 tests in the city, followed by brunch while awaiting said C19 result with crossed fingers (I uncrossed to eat), and finally, bus to the airport. Three negative tests, onwards to the airport! We arrived at the recommended 3.5hrs before the flight; bag drop took 45 mins, security took 14 mins(!!!). The only problem now - we had too much time to spare…and this turned out to be even longer as (of course) the flight was delayed by >1.5hr. Tram stop - guess whose owns what?? Test (fingers crossed!) Brunch Bus stop- hey where did the others go?? What do to with such a long wait in the airport?? First drink of the holiday anyone… Cheers! Finally, we boarded and we were good to go! DM made sandwiches for the flight (which would serve as dinner; she’s an excellent sandwich maker – ham, cheese and relish, delish! it’s a holiday tradition, see my previous reviews). The flight was just over 2hrs and passed by pretty quickly. Almost onboard DM’s sandwiches - they don't look the most instragrammable but damn they are tasty Sunset flight light And one more I had arranged a taxi pick up from the airport as I heard that the taxi queues in Spanish airports were competing with Dublin ones in terms of terribleness. €40 from the airport to our hotel in downtown Barcelona was pretty good value for three people. Even though our flight arrived almost 2hrs later than scheduled, the driver was still there (guess he was tracking the flight). As we would be spending less than 14hrs in the hotel (and sleeping for the majority of those hours) we didn’t really care too much about where we stayed as long as it was close to the port. We booked Ramblas by Pillow (€160 for 3pp) as it was located just off La Ramblas about 10mins walk to the port. As the hotel’s reception was closed by time we arrived (we emailed them to let them know in advance), they gave us instructions to enter the hotel and our room using a code which worked surprisingly well. What didn’t work so well was the fact that the hotel is located on the 4th floor of an old building with no lift. Hauling up our luggage on those marble stairs was no joke. Going down the next day was also no fun. I would not recommend this hotel if you have trouble hauling a +20kg case up 4 flights of marbles stairs. That said, the hotel, was much better than expected - super clean, a balcony overlooking La Ramblas, and even tea and coffee making facilities and biscuits! What more could you want (besides a lift)! After tea and biscuits, it was time for bed as it was close to midnight at that stage. Travel day is over, we had made it! Excited for tomorrow. Room - would have preferred 'Woman is a genuis' but what can you do. Tea! (and chocolate milk and granola bar for some reason...breakfast maybe) La Ramblas from balcony

Hi Helen, I don't know how much shade there is on Edge, but we had no problems in the Sunset Bar on Beyond. There are little shaded cabana areas you can use. Like this. Excuse gratuitous photo of self:

Thanks SunandShade. I have done Greece and Malta on a different ship and loved the ports. Valetta is a favourite.

Hi Jim I know, right....I guess it represents the weight of the world we all had on our shoulders over the last 2 years, or else, its just an elaphant on a man. Perfect weather- 28-32 degrees most days. BTW, I loved following your live posts...an inspiration.

Hi Susan, I agree, I’m pretty small so I don’t take up much room, a suite would be lost on me (although maybe that's just cognitive dissonance. If I was upgraded, I may say yes. Captain Kate is brilliant, she is doing so much to encourage more women to entry the industry, plus she seems super nice.

No problem H2OH (love the name). More to follow.

Hey Bama4cruisin, Lucky you! I haven't been on Apex, but some say Beyond is even better. You will have a fab time!