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It was so overcast I never bothered to put on sunscreen when sitting out by the ship's pool. My husband, who never ever goes out sunning, sat outside with me by the pool, which was empty, for about 90 minutes. There wasn't a stich of sun today.

*After the late showing of Elements (the 8pm was cancelled due to an issue - I think it was an injury - and the late show was delayed a bit due to the cast working out the issues) I attempted to checkout the Halloween parade and contest at the Grand Plaza. It seemed as if the whole ship was there. It was a bit overwhelming, TBH so I did a few rounds to checkout the costumes and then left the Grand Plaza. The Martini Bar was too packed for comfort.

*The entertainment on the Beyond has been outstanding. I thought there would be no equal to the production show ARTE but Beyond has another winner with ELEMENTS. As with Arte it was the synergy of the individual performers, production, and the theater itself to produce a show that was breathtaking. I also watched the show The Jazz Joint at the Club and it too was a great show with a Supper club feel to it.

*The pool on the Beyond is indeed narrower than on the previous E-class ships. On the previous ships the in pool loungers were located on a lip along the portside edge of the pool. On the Beyond they are located on a lip along the aft edge of the pool. Check out the the uploaded photos of the Edge(1st two) vs Beyond(3rd) pools. Edit:The actual swimming part of the pool is probably the same, it's the location of the shallow lips for the loungers that's changed and narrowed the overall pool.

That's great you've made Onyx tier and receiving good offers but something doesn't add up. Table games accrue BCC points at a lower rate than slots so to achieve Onyx tier with only playing craps you must be betting very high stakes and/or the pit bosses are padding your play. It's simple math.

*Great energy on the ship for Halloween. Going to the show now, then Halloween party at the Grand Plaza. Everyone in a happy, joyous mood! Some great costumes! Photo:Captain Berkowitz of the USS Beyond;Shang Chi, first Chinese Marvel Comics Superhero!

Are we to assume there was no renovation done to Michael's club? Edit: Photo of Michael's Club back in March.

Happy to report that Tea Forte is on the Beyond at Cafe Al Bacio (Note as with other other E-class ships Tea Forte is not available at Segundo Bacio) as well as the custom teapots (although when my husband and I had tea he had the teapot lid with the hole for the teabag stem but mine didn't!🙁)

*Fun observation: Potential supply chain issues? In the Oceanview Cafe besides the coffee mugs branded with Lavazza there are also mugs from Ikea??? I knew the shape of the mug looked familiar and when I looked at the bottom, low and behold Ikea's most basic coffee mugs! 🤷

I'll post a separate review on the MSC board.

What do you mean about Concierge Room? Do you mean Michael's Club?

*The tea selection in the Oceanview Cafe is a bit of a hodgepodge of brands.

*Blu. We're quite impressed with Blu on the Beyond. One major change here on the Beyond is the removal of two lifeboats from blocking the ocean views from the restaurant. Now the majority of the windows have seaviews and the curtains are left open during both breakfast and dinner. Service has been excellent and so have the meals. Last night I had the Lobster Salad as an appetizer and the Strip steak salad (For the uninitiated it's a whole steak with a plated salad, not sliced steak on a bed of salad) and both were outstanding. The lobster and noodles were full of flavor and a touch of spiciness. My Strip steak was cooked to the requested medium rare and it had a beautiful char on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. It was a nice, fairly thick cut considering it wasn't a surcharged entree. It was our third meal there (the other two nights were in the MDRs with my parents) and they seated us with the same servers without needing to be requested. The sommelier is attentive and friendly. We only had to wait for a table in day one but otherwise Blu hasn't been crowded when we go to eat around 7pm. If you request they will bring you the MDR menu with the everyday classics and rotating nightly choices. We had no issues with dining at the other MDRs and last night we met a couple in Blu who were actually in Retreat but they enjoyed Blu more so they have been eating at Blu more than Luminae.

It can be said that Europeans use less personal paper products than Americans. It could be attributed to different plumbing standards and the use of bidets in some Southern Europe countries. In any case next time you're in Spain or Italy checkout a grocery store and look at the paper products section. TP is in much smaller rolls, firmer in composition, and smaller in dimensions. In Spain many hotels supply TP that has 30-50 squares. https://www.urdesignmag.com/tips/2020/09/26/6-big-differences-between-american-toilets-and-european-toilets/

No, I was in a balcony suite Aurea (that's what MSC calls it) which is the best cabin level below Yacht club on the Seashore.

Here are photos of the areas right outside the four main dining rooms. The first photo is Deck 4 outside Cosmopolitan and Cyprus, the second photo is Deck 3 right outside Normandie and Tuscan. For a ship where every inch is designed and decorated these areas standout as unfinished.

Le Grand Bistro is open on Port days. I don't know any mainstream cruiseline that opens MDRs for lunch during port days. There's not enough passengers on the ship to warrant it.

Welcome to Celebrity! I'm Elite + on Celebrity and Diamond with Carnival so I'm very familiar with both lines. Each line has their strengths and weaknesses. But it cannot be denied that Celebrity is a more refined, upscale cruising experience.

The TP in your bathroom is what I'm calling the American TP since it's wrapper says where it's from. The TP I'm calling European was unwrapped, about half as many sheets, narrower in width, and single ply with a totally different texture. The facial tissue in our room is also different from yours. It's the upright boutique style and surprisingly it's labeled as manufactured in Italy.

The buffet on E-class ships are an asymmetrical design. The main food station areas and one side where the tables are have double height ceilings. On the other side of the food stations the seating area is single height. That's why we prefer to sit at the tables in the double height ceiling section by the panoramic windows.

Welcome! We have 3 rolls of European TP and 3 rolls of American TP in our bathroom. Today is Day 5 and we opened the 1st roll of American TP having gone through the 3 rolls of European TP.

It's smaller and WAY, WAY, WAY less sheets per roll. Many times when I stay in a hotel in Spain or Italy we'll go through 2 rolls of TP in 1.5 days. I would estimate 30 sheets in a roll of European TP. There's no such thing as a jumbo roll of TP. Furthermore Spaniards and Italians don't seem to use facial tissue the way Americans do. They generally don't have regular sized tissues;what they use is what Americans call pocket size packs. Go to any grocery store in Spain and Italy and you'll find multiple types of pocket size facial tissue but no 'normal' size box of tissues. A jumbo box of 330 regular size tissues? Doesn't exist. In fact MSC cruises doesn't provide facial tissues in their cabins unless you ask for it.

Fun observations as the ship transitions from Europe to the Caribbean: *President French butter giving way to Wisconsin Dairy brand Grassland Butter. *European sized toilet paper giving way to American style TP.

*We have an Aquaclass IV cabin and it's the same as on the previous ships. Storage is fine but there's not enough hooks/pegs to hang things from. None in the room and only four in the bathroom; two in the shower and two on the bathroom door. The deluxe shower panel with multiple water settings is wonderful! As with previous IV bathroom cabins the mirror is heated to prevent fogging but it also heats up the bathroom too much. You can actually feel the heat eminating from the mirror. It's too much. *As someone who enjoys using the spa I have to say the E-class Thermal suites are a letdown and the Beyond is no different. The spa is beautifully designed but there are some useless features such as the Crystal Inhalation room and I feel most people would prefer regular loungers than hanging basket chairs to relax in. You see some strange contortions as people try to get their legs supported by the basket chair. There's no hot tub or whirlpool inside the thermal suite. The spa has access to a beautiful forward outdoor deck but on all three ships it's used as a sculpture garden and although you can access it there's no place to sit or lay down. All you can do is spend a few minutes standing around admiring the views. As previously mentioned one change in the Spa on the Beyond are additional lockers in the changing room which I presume is the reason the Beyond allows all passengers access to the Spa locker rooms vs the Edge and Apex where they are supposed to be only for those with a treatment or thermal suite access (That was told to me by the Spa desk people on the Edge & Apex).

Photos of the new hightops and beverage center in the Oceanview Cafe and the packed Craft Social Bar watching football - Go Eagles!!!