RK-NC

What is it about vacation that makes you want to eat and drink all the time?!?! The plan was to skip lunch and just hang out on the Retreat sundeck until afternoon tea started in the lounge at 3:30pm. It wasn't even noon and we were hungry! We headed over to the Sunset Bar (first time there) - I got the Beyond Signature and DH got a Strongbow (on tap! They also had Newcastle on tap). Took our drinks to OVC for pizza and a sampling of desserts. Highly recommend the Beyond Sig. We went back for 2 more and are enjoying them on the balcony.

This is an excellent explanation of e-class dining. We are on Beyond this week and this is our experience but my goodness, we certainly had unnecessary questions and concerns about it all. Celebrity definitely needs to improve communication. We are in Retreat and enjoy Luminae but are trying the MDRs too. Cyprus last night was wonderful - we made it "Greek night" and had the Cyprus exclusives.

Good morning from St. Lucia! We were up EARLY for 7 laps on the track followed by Al Bacio for coffee and sticky buns then Luminae for breakfast. DH really enjoyed Eggs in Purgatory. I could eat the Cherry Yogurt Parfait every day for the rest of my life! 🍒 We are staying on the ship today in a retreat cabana with a gorgeous view. It's like our own private sundeck! View of an airstrip - we're watching planes land! Snap, crackle, pop last night until around 3am when it stopped. We got some sleep but there will be some cabana naps today for sure. We are fans of the Malpass Brothers (google them if you like classic, REAL country music). They have a song "Sleep when the party's over" and that's just going to be my motto for the rest of the week. I participated in the game show "Pitfall" last night! Fun!! Orange Crush cocktail in The Club was refreshing 🍹

Opa! Cyprus for dinner tonight was excellent! This is the Mezze board appetizer. DH had the octopus. We both had the short ribs and then galaktoboureko for dessert. Our team of servers were so attentive but friendly and approachable. We arrived at 5:20pm and left at 7pm. We're off to The Club in a bit for pub game night!

Look what my DH brought back from the Retreat Lounge - tea time treats! Fancy water for me and that famous bourbon and peaches for him. BTW, he ordered one at the theater last night and it was pretty close to the same as the Retreat bar. Oh and a tip I thought of while enjoying a long shower with that wonderful Co Bigelow body wash. Yesterday when we went to Craft Social, we wanted some snacks so we went by Oceanview during "tea time" and got a plate of goodies, covered it with a napkin and took it with us to Craft Social. They sell snacks there but we're cheapskates 😂

Our attendant put beach towels on our bed last night that we assume are for taking to the beach. Enjoy your cruises!

We had a lot of snap, crackle, pop on the second night. Less last night. It's just such a shame that it is a problem because it is a beautiful ship.

Lunch at The Spa Cafe was the perfect "small bites" that we needed before walking off the ship for a bit. Everything was tasty! Followed by a bit of gelato/ice cream at Scoops 😋 Seconds after we left the ship, it started raining ☂️ but stopped long enough for us to get over to the duty free to get t-shirts for our 4 sweet grandchildren. Very easy leaving and returning to the ship - cucumber and orange water, cold towels, beach towels and lots of welcome backs from the crew. We are feeling pampered! Note that we backed in so it will be a quick escape at 4:30pm! DH has gone to The Club for golf simulator and putting. Which reminds me, we went to Craft Social to watch the Master's yesterday. Loved it there! I had Tito's Punch😋 🍹😋 DH - draft beer. I think this is the only bar with draft? We met the MOST lovely British couple and had a delightful chat!

@Arzeena We'll keep our ears open for info on Captain Kate's schedule!

Not at all a coffee geek but we are on Beyond this week and are really enjoying Al Bacio. Wonderful atmosphere and excellent table service. Ask for a double shot.

Can't beat this view while brushing your teeth! On the way to breakfast, we met magician Matt Johnson in the elevator with his luggage. We thanked him for his fabulous show and bid him farewell. He has a residency with Celebrity so not sure but we think he may be moving over to another ship. Great entertainer but even more, he seems like a kind and caring person.

Good morning St. Maartin! Bacio for coffee and Blu for breakfast!

Eden Cafe? It is under Coffee&Snacks on the app and is "quick service"

Made our first trip over to Eden for lunch and it was very good! Mushroom soup was delicious as was the potato salad with my turkey sandwich. Only open on sea days for lunch so I'm glad we remembered that as we have 5 port days coming up. DH did the street curling competition this morning - fun! Eden is a relaxing area - this was our first aft view!

Just back from breakfast in Luminae where we had dulce de leche croissants that were so yummy! We will have to try the almond at Bacio. @mac_tlc thanks again for your live report in Feb - it was very helpful with our planning. DH had a Bourbon and peaches last night and really enjoyed it. We are not big cocktail drinkers but enjoying trying some new things. Off to Beyond the Podium presentation about Caribbean reef fish in a few minutes. We enjoyed Calab Crawford's talk yesterday about sharks and rays. Stage Door is tonight!

Good morning on day 3! Just finished our morning walk on the track. Five laps is a mile - we did 8 today and will try to add a lap each day. Pleased to report that we have seen very little chair hog activity. The bad news...snap, crackle, pop. Our stateroom started creaking last night ☹️ We fired up two white noise machines and took OTC sleep med and that did the trick. Will report our stateroom # after our cruise ends. And hopefully we won't be snapping and cracking every night. Captain Kate's Creaking Crate 🚢 Magician Matt Johnson was excellent last night! We sat in the Chic Night Retreat section. The butlers were all lined up waiting for us at the theater - very nice! Thad had been offering us morning coffee and snacks so we gave him our coffee order for this morning and it was delivered right on time! We are really enjoying Cafe Al Bacio! Photo is our Cortadito and Double Latte yesterday morning. Great table service there. We went back for tea after lunch yesterday. We drink Lavazza coffee at home but recommend a double shot unless you like it weak. The Cortadio was quite strong though! ☕ Luminae food and service has been excellent so far! Lobster appetizer was especially delicious last night. We are off to breakfast there now. ☕

Boarded Beyond yesterday. Drawer in the bathroom - I wish I could send some of this over to the Summit.

Good morning sunrise from Beyond! Just a quick report that we are so very pleased with our sky suite experience so far! We met our stateroom attendant Sheldon and Butler (!!) Thad before sailaway yesterday. We have had excellent service in Luminae, Al Bacio, Oceanview, Retreat Sundeck Bar. Really enjoyed comedian Al Ducharme last night! No problems with seating in the theater - we got there about 30 minutes before showtime. I believe we have a full ship and nowhere has seemed crowded to us so far. Looking forward to a beautiful day at sea!

We are on our way to Port Everglades to board Beyond on Friday. In Bluffton/Hilton Head SC last night and tonight. We have had a superb experience at Holiday Inn Express and the 2 restaurants we have dined. Last year we took a month-long driving trip NC to Maine and had excellent service and nice hotel and B&B stays. We are very excited about the cruise but if we have problems with the basics like cleanliness, towels, decent dining service, improperly prepared food,etc it will be one and done for Celebrity and we may even cancel our future cruises (on other cruise lines) and stick with land vacations. Fingers crossed!

@llawrence Have you talked with anyone else with stateroom issues like yours? I agree about requesting a meeting with the hotel director. I think that could be even more successful if a group of passengers made the request.

There were problems on the sailing prior to yours: I hope things improve for you and everyone onboard and on future Summit sailings. I don't think there is any excuse for an unclean, ill-equipped stateroom. Something is wrong. I will be thinking of you this week.

Good luck with your packing and enjoy the TA!! We sail Queen Mary 2 in August for 30 nights and my head probably will explode with that packing 😳 Have a fabulous crossing!

Bon Voyage! Love your storytelling! We sail Beyond next Friday, leaving Tuesday for the drive to the port. My head is exploding right now as I am in the throes of packing. What a great reading break! I'm ready to tackle the last of the packing. Have a great cruise!

Happy packing @PinkSandGirl We're driving to the port but going all carry-on onto the ship! We waaaaaaaaaay over packed in 2019 when we cruised Alaska and decided to change our ways!

Thank you for sharing. We're on this Beyond sailing and excited but we have drastically lowered our expectations. It seems that reality does not match what Celebrity promotes, especially regarding extra service to suite passengers. We're just glad to get the true picture ahead of time.