Precusor & Introducation
It is Day 2 and I haven’t typed a word yet….remiss of me, but if I don’t start now, I never will. Where to start? Like many others, this is our first cruise since Covid-19; our last (Sapphire Princess) ended in Singapore in January 2020, just one day after the Diamond Princess left port…it was a lucky escape! Two and a half years later, all vaccinated, fully boosted, immunity from a recent C19 dose and we are ready to get back to sea…fingers crossed…..
Who are ‘we’ - DS (sister), DM (mother), and me. It’s our 7th cruise – so we are still relatively new to the game. We started in 2015 on Celebrity Reflection, and in no particular order (because I really can’t remember) – there was HAL Oosterdam, Celebrity Equinox, HAL Nieuw Statendam, Cunard Queen Mary II, and Sapphire Princess covering Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean, but mostly Europe.
The 3 of ‘us’ on our last previous cruise from Singapore
Why Celebrity Beyond? Why not? A beautiful new ship, Captain Kate at its helm (whom I only discovered on Instagram during lockdown), and our first time on an Edge class ship after our cruise on Celebrity Apex was cancelled in June 2020. I have been eagerly following its build online and now I get to see her in person…the ship that is, not Captain Kate, but also Captain Kate.
Beyond taken from a tender
I have written this review/diary while on the cruise, but I am posting it when I return due to a) rubbish basic wi-fi package, and b) writing in a hot solarium after a day in port is not conducive to correct spelling, grammar, or sense, so editing is required. I will hopefully post it all over the next week or so….but don’t quote me on that.
Where did we go?
- Barcelona
- Marseille
- Villefrance/Nice
- Santa Margareta/Portofino
- La Spezia (Pisa/Florence)
- Civitavecchia/Rome
- Ajaccio, Corsica (well maybe not)
- Naples
- Barcelona
A few sneak peek pics of destinations to come
How long did we go for?
- 9 nights
Where did we stay?
- Sunset veranda (aft) on deck 12
Our cabin was top right
What class are we? (if that’s not a rude question)
- We are not Elite or Zenith and we are not staying in a suite or Aqua class so we don’t have access to the Retreat, Luminae or Blu (please read review of a financially well-endowed person for that, i.e., not me); however we did purchase a 5-night speciality dining package beforehand, so you can read about Eden, Fine Cut, and Voyage.
What package did we have?
- ‘Always Included’ – classic drinks package, free gratuities, free basic wi-fi. We considered upgrading to the premium drinks package but the drinks on the classic were fine and we just paid the difference when we wanted a ‘better’ glass of wine.
Where did we mainly hangout while at sea?
- Solarium (for afternoon lounging)
- Eden (for lunch and night time fun)
- Café al Bacio (for the cakes, I’m not going to lie)
- Cosmopolitan (for breakfast)
- Speciality restaurants (well 3 of the 5 isn’t bad)
- Stateroom (for obvious reasons)
What were the highlights?
- Beautiful ship with that ‘new ship smell’
- Sunset veranda for, you know, watching the sunset
- Amazing food in the speciality restaurants, esp. Eden and Le Voyage
- Again Eden – everything about it
- Friendly and efficient service from all staff
- The relative emptiness of the ship (while this cannot be sustainable for the cruise company, it’s a real bonus for anyone cruising now)
- Meeting Captain Kate, although not Bug.
More of these type pics to come...balcony view
Beyond!
What were the lowlights?
- Um…….this is hard….eating too much lobster and drinking too much prosecco perhaps??
- The absence of a outside deck where it is possible to do a full 360 loop – although I haven’t seen any of these on Celebrity ships.
- Having to go to 4 different stations to fill one plate of salad in Oceanview café. It’s a lot of work for your lunch!
- A more serious one – zero info about number of guests onboard or any mention of the big C19. However, all staff were wearing masks at all times.
Great salad but took a lot of effort
If you don’t like detailed, minute-by-minute details of life on Beyond (ok not quite), this is not the post for you. I repeat move right along!
Hi Barwick Cruiser, Thank you!!! Completely agree, balcony is key. I should have asked someone to show me the infinity ones but I chickened out. Maybe they are ok??? We ate in all 4 main dining rooms (for research purposes of course), so stay tuned!
