Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[grapau27]

4 minutes ago, sgmn said:

Dani, it was absolutely lovely meeting up with you and your DH. We had some great chats and please please please if you are ever in the UK let me know. We're not far from London so can easily meet up there 

After meeting you I do regret not doing the 'Bella' cruise. You guys are going to have so much fun meeting up with everyone. 

Enjoy your time in Barcelona.  I know its a bit of an enforced stay but it is a lovely city 

Back to reality and back on a diet !!! I put on a ton of weight 🙈

Pleased you had an amazing time Sue.

Graham.

[grapau27]

Good morning.

It is 66°F and sunny here at 09.00am.

After my steroid injection in my right knee yesterday for the first time in months I woke up pain free in that knee.

I still have pain walking up and down stairs but moving better so 🙏🤞

[sgmn]

So just a recap of our Beyond cruise.

It is a stunning ship. Very modern as you would expect.  We quite liked the infinity balcony concept  it made the room a lot bigger. Only downside when you opened the window the air con switched off and after a while it got quite hot.

PROS

I loved the main pool. It was longer than normal and good for actually swimming lengths 

The Solarium was lovely but I preferred to be in the fresh air in the hot weather. Loved the healthy options in the spa cafe with proper fresh coffee and we ate breakfast there most days

Liked the included four dinning rooms with different themed cuisines . We had MTD and I prebooked our meal times on the planner

 

Great entertainment with spectacular stage and theatre.  In particular the last show 'elements' was out of this world 

 

Enjoyed our free Elite drinks between 5 and 7, usually in the open air sunset bar at the back of the ship. Our total spend on the 10 day cruise was only $280, we got generous pours and one or two drinks on top of the free Elite drinks were enough (we had the basic cruise  no DP or WiFi, though we prepaid gratuities)

 

Enjoyed the ships captains talk with Captain Kate.  She explained how she got to where she is now, very interesting.   Great role model for any girls wanting to get into the mainly male dominated world of ships officers 

 

Great stops . We had been to many before  but Great to visit again, new to us was Rhodes and Malta as port stops though we had visited Malta before. We mainly did our own thing though took the ships transport to Athens centre and did a great ships tour in Malta. Loved the ice cold towels handed out on arrival back to the ship

We got offered a ship tour of the kitchens which was very interesting .

Two 'drinks with officers' evenings with cocktails and canapés (Elite perks) was nice

We did an upgrade from infinity balcony to concierge class for £80 pp (10 day cruise) which gave us a better cabin position and a few perks 

All the staff were wonderful 

 

And of course the main 'pro' was meeting Dani and her DH 

 

Cons 

Not many, mainly disappointed in the food.  It was a bit bland , though a few meals were very good.  We didn't do a specialty restaurants, they were very expensive and no deals. But talking to two different people who did were disappointed. 

The shops were very high end and we didn't really spend anything on board 

We usually like to have little fun in the casinos and use to have limit of $10 a day on RC which use to last a while in the penny slots  but find on Celebrity the money disappears in seconds so we have given up going. Noticed it was mainly empty every time we went by

The afternoon snacks delivered to our concierge room weren't great and got left uneaten

The free bottle of fizz left in our room was undrinkable and got left after one sip. A decent bottle of fizz would only be a few dollars so why this undrinkable sweet rubbish?

 

There's no forward facing top deck lounge on Beyond,  its all given up to a much bigger retreat area for suites

This is a game changer for hubby and will probably stop us booking this ship again. 

 

Thought the staff were a bit short handed in the dinning rooms, though once we said we wanted a quick dinner to make a show and they gave us the three course meal in 50 min.

 

Overall a great cruise, great weather and I would book again but hubby said he's missing RC, our last was 2019 and wants to go back to Royal next time

 

I'll post some photos separately 

Edited June 24, 2022 by sgmn

[sgmn]

52 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Good morning.

It is 66°F and sunny here at 09.00am.

After my steroid injection in my right knee yesterday for the first time in months I woke up pain free in that knee.

I still have pain walking up and down stairs but moving better so 🙏🤞

Great news Graham. I've had a dodgy knee for years. I had an x-ray about 7 years ago and they said there was a bit of wear and tear and gave physio

 Maybe I should go back again to the docs about it. Doesn't stop me going on long walks but I'm slow going up and down steps now

[ReneeFLL]

1 hour ago, sgmn said:

Dani, it was absolutely lovely meeting up with you and your DH. We had some great chats and please please please if you are ever in the UK let me know. We're not far from London so can easily meet up there 

After meeting you I do regret not doing the 'Bella' cruise. You guys are going to have so much fun meeting up with everyone. 

Enjoy your time in Barcelona.  I know its a bit of an enforced stay but it is a lovely city 

Back to reality and back on a diet !!! I put on a ton of weight 🙈

Welcome back. Sounds like you had a great time.

[sgmn]

Some pics of the Beyond ship 

Pool deck, see the hot tubs on the stems

 

Lobster night in the MDR

Sunset and moon rise

One of the shows, Elements, spectacular 

Short video of the empty theatre

 

 

Captain Kate

Solarium 

Pool deck

One of the infinity pools

 sunset bar

Martini bar 🍸 

[aussielozzie18]

Welcome back Sue @sgmn.  Pleased you had a wonderful time.  The  ship looks stunning. Lovely photos.

[brillohead]

31 minutes ago, sgmn said:

Some pics of the Beyond ship 

Pool deck, see the hot tubs on the stems

Is it just me, or is that Elephant balancing statue just kinda.... random?

I could understand if there was a general "circus" theme all around, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

[A&L_Ont]

This one is for @Ocean Boy

 

[sgmn]

44 minutes ago, brillohead said:

Is it just me, or is that Elephant balancing statue just kinda.... random?

I could understand if there was a general "circus" theme all around, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

The art work and statues all around the ship were pretty spectacular but kinda made for Instagram generation I think 😁

[sgmn]

9 hours ago, jagsfan said:

I’ll try this again. The first version is floating around in space. 
I’m trying to decide if we should try Celebrity while we’re still upright. 
What would be the reason to sail with them?
Royal  has the only entertainment I enjoy. 
Specifically the Aqua Theater, Broadway show (Cats not so much!) and the ice show. 
They are different  from other lines offerings  and we’ve sailed on a good number of them. 
I usually book Jr Suites and like the extra room. 
I really like Park Cafe for lunches. 
So what it make it worthwhile to cheat and sail with Celebrity?

The entertainment on Beyond was very good but on silhouette more like on Royals smaller ships . No big west end theatre shows or ice shows . Lots of two or three piece musical acts in the lounges, not so raucous as the Schooner bar or pub on RC . Whimsical Alice in wonderland themed show in Eden. Very good acrobats on board 

I don't book suites but I think the entry level sky suite gets full suite benefits with full use of retreat suite area and suite restaurant and bars. And with 'always included' you get drink package and wifi too

We're looking forward to returning to Royal after a break of three years

 

Edited June 24, 2022 by sgmn

[Keksie]

4 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

 

Our cat also has fur like that. Lilo is a mixed breed of we don't know what. She was a stray. First picture when she was a baby and next 2 she is grown. She's a small cat. Her fur feels so soft unlike other cats we have had.

 

 

 

 

Very pretty.  Her fur looks very soft and full.

[Momof3gurlz]

15 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

Hello everyone,

 

We’re back on “solid ground” as of this very early morning. Had to “burn” some hours until our room was ready. Barcelona.

 

We we’re supposed to get “free Wi-Fi” as one of the “perks”, but it turned out that the “free” only allows u to check emails and send WhatsApps. 
 

We have to spend another 2 days here, courtesy of a cancelled flight, and back home I’ll try to catch up.

 

We had the pleasure to meet with Sue “uk” and Gary, her DH, and had some interesting and enjoyable talks.

 

(((((( )))))

 

Welcome back Dani, we’ve missed you!

 

13 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

The kitten that at one time wouldn't come near me...

 

 

She’s a little sweetheart. 

4 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Good morning.

It is 66°F and sunny here at 09.00am.

After my steroid injection in my right knee yesterday for the first time in months I woke up pain free in that knee.

I still have pain walking up and down stairs but moving better so 🙏🤞

Very glad to hear the injection was successful for you Graham.

[jmh2006]

9 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Is that a full transit cruise?

No, just a go into the canal and turn around cruise, which is alright with me.  Other ports are Colon, Cartegena, Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.  

[grapau27]

4 hours ago, sgmn said:

So just a recap of our Beyond cruise.

It is a stunning ship. Very modern as you would expect.  We quite liked the infinity balcony concept  it made the room a lot bigger. Only downside when you opened the window the air con switched off and after a while it got quite hot.

PROS

I loved the main pool. It was longer than normal and good for actually swimming lengths 

The Solarium was lovely but I preferred to be in the fresh air in the hot weather. Loved the healthy options in the spa cafe with proper fresh coffee and we ate breakfast there most days

Liked the included four dinning rooms with different themed cuisines . We had MTD and I prebooked our meal times on the planner

 

Great entertainment with spectacular stage and theatre.  In particular the last show 'elements' was out of this world 

 

Enjoyed our free Elite drinks between 5 and 7, usually in the open air sunset bar at the back of the ship. Our total spend on the 10 day cruise was only $280, we got generous pours and one or two drinks on top of the free Elite drinks were enough (we had the basic cruise  no DP or WiFi, though we prepaid gratuities)

 

Enjoyed the ships captains talk with Captain Kate.  She explained how she got to where she is now, very interesting.   Great role model for any girls wanting to get into the mainly male dominated world of ships officers 

 

Great stops . We had been to many before  but Great to visit again, new to us was Rhodes and Malta as port stops though we had visited Malta before. We mainly did our own thing though took the ships transport to Athens centre and did a great ships tour in Malta. Loved the ice cold towels handed out on arrival back to the ship

We got offered a ship tour of the kitchens which was very interesting .

Two 'drinks with officers' evenings with cocktails and canapés (Elite perks) was nice

We did an upgrade from infinity balcony to concierge class for £80 pp (10 day cruise) which gave us a better cabin position and a few perks 

All the staff were wonderful 

 

And of course the main 'pro' was meeting Dani and her DH 

 

Cons 

Not many, mainly disappointed in the food.  It was a bit bland , though a few meals were very good.  We didn't do a specialty restaurants, they were very expensive and no deals. But talking to two different people who did were disappointed. 

The shops were very high end and we didn't really spend anything on board 

We usually like to have little fun in the casinos and use to have limit of $10 a day on RC which use to last a while in the penny slots  but find on Celebrity the money disappears in seconds so we have given up going. Noticed it was mainly empty every time we went by

The afternoon snacks delivered to our concierge room weren't great and got left uneaten

The free bottle of fizz left in our room was undrinkable and got left after one sip. A decent bottle of fizz would only be a few dollars so why this undrinkable sweet rubbish?

 

There's no forward facing top deck lounge on Beyond,  its all given up to a much bigger retreat area for suites

This is a game changer for hubby and will probably stop us booking this ship again. 

 

Thought the staff were a bit short handed in the dinning rooms, though once we said we wanted a quick dinner to make a show and they gave us the three course meal in 50 min.

 

Overall a great cruise, great weather and I would book again but hubby said he's missing RC, our last was 2019 and wants to go back to Royal next time

 

I'll post some photos separately 

Thank you Sue.

This was  interesting and gave me valuable information on Celebrity Beyond.

Graham 

Edited June 24, 2022 by grapau27

[Arzeena]

11 hours ago, jagsfan said:

I’ll try this again. The first version is floating around in space. 
I’m trying to decide if we should try Celebrity while we’re still upright. 
What would be the reason to sail with them?
Royal  has the only entertainment I enjoy. 
Specifically the Aqua Theater, Broadway show (Cats not so much!) and the ice show. 
They are different  from other lines offerings  and we’ve sailed on a good number of them. 
I usually book Jr Suites and like the extra room. 
I really like Park Cafe for lunches. 
So what it make it worthwhile to cheat and sail with Celebrity?

Absolutely!  Not cheating😁, you are in the same family and your status will carry over (D,D+ in Royal gets Elite in Celebrity).
We love Celebrity! We also love Royal. (And we also love NCL). They all have their goods and not so goods.
My DH is of the opinion that Royal's benefits for D+ are the best, on board and not.  Balcony discounts, etc etc.

Celebrity is pretty much the same, with little adjustments, like no free phots, but has Captains Club breakfast every morning.  CC one category upgrades, etc etc.

I also like the NCL benefits for Diamond on NCL (specialty dining, laundry.....the yard).

 

Entertainment is better on NCL and Royal (in that order IMHO) but we don't pick the cruise for the entertainment only.

 

You won't go wrong with Celebrity.

[Arzeena]

5 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Good morning.

It is 66°F and sunny here at 09.00am.

After my steroid injection in my right knee yesterday for the first time in months I woke up pain free in that knee.

I still have pain walking up and down stairs but moving better so 🙏🤞

So happy to hear that Graham.

 

[grapau27]

4 hours ago, sgmn said:

Some pics of the Beyond ship 

Pool deck, see the hot tubs on the stems

 

Lobster night in the MDR

Sunset and moon rise

One of the shows, Elements, spectacular 

Short video of the empty theatre

 

 

Captain Kate

Solarium 

Pool deck

One of the infinity pools

 sunset bar

Martini bar 🍸 

Lovely photos Sue.

Graham.

[bobmacliberty]

12 hours ago, jagsfan said:

I’ll try this again. The first version is floating around in space. 
I’m trying to decide if we should try Celebrity while we’re still upright. 
What would be the reason to sail with them?
Royal  has the only entertainment I enjoy. 
Specifically the Aqua Theater, Broadway show (Cats not so much!) and the ice show. 
They are different  from other lines offerings  and we’ve sailed on a good number of them. 
I usually book Jr Suites and like the extra room. 
I really like Park Cafe for lunches. 
So what it make it worthwhile to cheat and sail with Celebrity?

 

I haven't cruised on Celebrity yet but the next cruise that we book will likely be with them.  We've enjoyed Royal and will be D+ after our next cruise, but the Royal cruises are all starting to feel the same.  Losing some of that Wow factor that we used to feel.  We want to shake things up a bit.  The suite area on the Edge class looks great and we'll get matched to Elite status, for whatever that's worth.

[Arzeena]

For cruisers flying to Miami:
I saw $88 round trip fares being advertised on Trip Advisor Philadelphia to Miami (Frontier and Spirit).

Well. I don't know if at that price, they will charge extra if you are wearing shoes, carrying a backpack, some more if you have a jacket, even more if you are breathing certain amount of air, etc etc.😄

But thought I would post this "deal alert" just in case.

[Sea Dog]

5 hours ago, grapau27 said:

 

After my steroid injection in my right knee yesterday for the first time in months I woke up pain free in that knee.

I still have pain walking up and down stairs but moving better so 🙏🤞

 

Great news Graham. What will be interesting is to see how long the steroid injection will last giving you comfort. Most of mine have lasted anywhere from 3-6 months. From your previous comments about the doctor saying you have moderate arthritis you should hopefully be able to as they say kick the can down the road. Unfortunately and eventually the cartilage will deteriorate more with age and activity setting up a possible knee replacement. Don't be afraid to go that route. Even though I'm still in the healing stage it has made a huge difference. I am now exercising an hour and a half per day where as before I couldn't do anything. I've dropped 35 pounds and feel better. Also one more point they told me exercise is important. Keeping those muscles around the joint strong can help support the knee cap and make less wear and tear. Good luck to you my friend I'm rooting for you.

Cheers!

 

 

5 hours ago, sgmn said:

So just a recap of our Beyond cruise.

 

 

Enjoyed the ships captains talk with Captain Kate.  She explained how she got to where she is now, very interesting.   Great role model for any girls wanting to get into the mainly male dominated world of ships officers 

 

 

Sue so glad you had a great cruise. I am a big Captain Kate fan and hope some day to sail with her. I know Celebrity honors Royal C&A is Elite equal to Diamond? 

 

 

1 minute ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

I haven't cruised on Celebrity yet but the next cruise that we book will likely be with them.  We've enjoyed Royal and will be D+ after our next cruise, but the Royal cruises are all starting to feel the same.  Losing some of that Wow factor that we used to feel.  We want to shake things up a bit.  The suite area on the Edge class looks great and we'll get matched to Elite status, for whatever that's worth.

 

I feel the same way. As soon as Linda and I reach Diamond (After our next two cruises) we would like to book a few cruises on Celebrity.

 

 

 

[jagsfan]

6 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

 

Our cat also has fur like that. Lilo is a mixed breed of we don't know what. She was a stray. First picture when she was a baby and next 2 she is grown. She's a small cat. Her fur feels so soft unlike other cats we have had.

 

 

 

 

The bottom photo is why cats are so much fun. They are imaginative and enjoy investigating new things, new sensations, and they are just plain entertaining!

[lenquixote66]

My oldest granddaughter is graduating high school today.She is an honors student.

At 3 PM there will be a lunch for the honors grads and their family members followed by the graduation ceremony at 5PM.After the graduation my family members are coming to my house for cake and ice cream.

[DaniDanielle]

6 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Pleased you had an amazing time Sue.

Graham.

Me too!

[jagsfan]

1 hour ago, jmh2006 said:

No, just a go into the canal and turn around cruise, which is alright with me.  Other ports are Colon, Cartegena, Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.  

Does Royal have a shore excursion like Princess for the rest of the canal?
On our second partial transit an excursion was available that we took. 
We tendered from the ship in Gatun Lake, and were taken to a small boat with 2 decks. 
We sat on the open top deck. Went through the rest of the locks and into the Pacific ocean. The lock experience on a small boat is spectacular!

We got to see the new locks. The whole thing was wonderful, even our lunch!

We motor coached back from Panama City to reboard the ship in Colon. 
I hope Royal offers that trip, too. 

Edited June 24, 2022 by jagsfan