Celebrity Beyond. July 2nd -July 11 review

[LeafsFanNL]

Hi there.

 

I was fortunate enough to be on the Beyond from July 2nd to the 11. I’ve been back a while and have had some time to reflect.  
 

In this review, I might mention comparisons to a July 2019 seven night cruise on the Infinity from Civitivecchia to Venice.
 

Pre cruise.  
 

We arrived in Barcelona five days before departure. Upon arrival, we met the other two members of our party,  another couple who are related to us. We really liked Barcelona and almost didn’t want to leave.

 

next.. day 1 departure 

[LeafsFanNL]

Day 1, July 2nd.  

 

We had a 12:00-12:30 pm boarding time.  We took a taxi,  picked up the other two and quickly arrived at the port.  I was pleasantly surprised how close the taxi was able to get to the ship.  Check in was very fast, the only hiccup was that the lady at the desk was less familiar with people who were boarding with certificates of recovery then people with antigen tests.  After a few minutes we boarded.

 

It was obvious from the start that there were  not so many people on the ship.  The number I kept hearing was about 1600.  

 

My wife had been on the Edge in early 2020, and was not enthralled by the infinity balcony.  We ended up booking what I think of as a porthole balcony on deck eight, forward.  Here are a few pics. The other couple had the standard balcony.  I have to say I preferred ours.  

[verizon]

53 minutes ago, LeafsFanNL said:

Hi there.

 

I was fortunate enough to be on the Beyond from July 2nd to the 11. I’ve been back a while and have had some time to reflect.  
 

In this review, I might mention comparisons to a July 2019 seven night cruise on the Infinity from Civitivecchia to Venice.
 

Pre cruise.  
 

We arrived in Barcelona five days before departure. Upon arrival, we met the other two members of our party,  another couple who are related to us. We really liked Barcelona and almost didn’t want to leave.

 

next.. day 1 departure 

You did the online check in would you please tell me what is the latest check in time?

I will also embark in Barcelone in September.

[LeafsFanNL]

2 minutes ago, verizon said:

You did the online check in would you please tell me what is the latest check in time?

I will also embark in Barcelone in September.

Hi,

 

I wish I could help, but I am not sure of the answer to your question.

[verizon]

3 minutes ago, LeafsFanNL said:

Hi,

 

I wish I could help, but I am not sure of the answer to your question.

What I mean is when the check in counter close.

I will landing  in Barcelona at 1:00pm the same day as sailing.

Edited July 20, 2022 by verizon

[LeafsFanNL]

1 hour ago, verizon said:

What I mean is when the check in counter close.

I will landing  in Barcelona at 1:00pm the same day as sailing.

I think your cruise documents will show the time you are looking for.  When I saw your arrival time, I was immediately concerned for you.  Things are pretty chaotic at airports lately.  If the 1pm arrival time can't be changed.  I would,  

 

1 Bring carry ons only.  Baggage delays were pretty long in  Barcelona in late June.  

2 Take a taxi directly to the port.  It should be about a 20-30 minute trip.

[verizon]

23 minutes ago, LeafsFanNL said:

I think your cruise documents will show the time you are looking for.  When I saw your arrival time, I was immediately concerned for you.  Things are pretty chaotic at airports lately.  If the 1pm arrival time can't be changed.  I would,  

 

1 Bring carry ons only.  Baggage delays were pretty long in  Barcelona in late June.  

2 Take a taxi directly to the port.  It should be about a 20-30 minute trip.

Ok Thanks.

[koolforkatz]

6 hours ago, LeafsFanNL said:

When I saw your arrival time, I was immediately concerned for you.  Things are pretty chaotic at airports lately.  If the 1pm arrival time can't be changed.  I would,  

 

1 Bring carry ons only.  Baggage delays were pretty long in  Barcelona in late June.  

2 Take a taxi directly to the port.  It should be about a 20-30 minute trip.

 

@verizonI would echo this. We arrived in Barcelona the end of May for a Beyond sailing. From the time we exited the plane until the time we met our driver, was over 1.5 hours. We couldn't even see the end of the customs line.

Edited July 20, 2022 by koolforkatz

[Surfguyxxx]

8 hours ago, verizon said:

What I mean is when the check in counter close.

I will landing  in Barcelona at 1:00pm the same day as sailing.

You are brave 😬

[jelayne]

It looks like the ship is scheduled for a 5 pm departure.   If you can do all carry on luggage and there is no delay in your flight, and customs moves fairly quickly you could be fine. 

We have done 8 trips to Barcelona and the airport has always been a zoo with long lines for everything.  

If you can change to a flight that arrives early morning that would give you cushion in case of a delay or a slow down at customs.

[mitz18]

11 hours ago, LeafsFanNL said:

 

 

My wife had been on the Edge in early 2020, and was not enthralled by the infinity balcony.  

 

May I ask what it was about the infinity balcony she did not like? Just curious as have been thinking of booking one...TIA

[theopup]

I like your comment about loving Barcelona, and not wanting to leave there. It is one of our favourite cities as there is so much to see and do there

[LeafsFanNL]

11 hours ago, mitz18 said:

 

May I ask what it was about the infinity balcony she did not like? Just curious as have been thinking of booking one...TIA

 

The "balcony" is separated from the room by a flimsy plastic sliding door.  Our cruise companions left their doors open the whole cruise.  They ended up with a larger stateroom, with a window that opened.  In my opinion it isn't really a balcony.

[LeafsFanNL]

Day 1 Continued.

 

One of the things I was looking to do early was to check out the iLounge.  There have been reports that some Celebrity ships have pre pandemic stock.   No worries there as there was no stock at all. Nothing at all.  It wouldn't have mattered much as they were charging Spanish sales tax, 21% as I remember.  About half way through the cruise a selection of Apple Watch series 7 were on sale.

 

We ate that night at Normandie, and like all the supper meals on the ship it was fabulous.   Our favourites were Normandie, and Tuscan.  The other two were fine but not as good as the first two.

 

There were four cruise ships in port and sail away was fun.

 

We ended up the night at the Martini bar, which was quite busy.  It would not be as busy for the rest of the cruise.

[mitz18]

3 hours ago, LeafsFanNL said:

 

The "balcony" is separated from the room by a flimsy plastic sliding door.  Our cruise companions left their doors open the whole cruise.  They ended up with a larger stateroom, with a window that opened.  In my opinion it isn't really a balcony.

thanks - that is what I figured and why we are still thinking.....

[LeafsFanNL]

Sorry folks,  

 

I had an issue or two so I couldn't update this.  I'm hoping to continue later today

 

[Michidoeme]

On 7/20/2022 at 12:00 PM, verizon said:

What I mean is when the check in counter close.

I will landing  in Barcelona at 1:00pm the same day as sailing.

As the taxi line can be long, maybe order a car or Uber in advance ?

[LeafsFanNL]

Day 2.  Marseille.

 

When we started booking our excursions, we really didn't find one in Marseille that appealed to us.  We chose to turn this day into an "at sea" day.  In the morning I scouted out the ship.  In the afternoon we visited all the pools we could access.  We particularly enjoyed the plunge pools by the sunset bar.  We ate that evening at Tuscan.  

[LeafsFanNL]

An item to note.    I found that the sunset bar was rather exposed to the sun.  There was little shade, and we tended to avoid it.

 

In contrast in 2019 on the Infinity, there were structures that provided ample shade. In this respect, I preferred the Infinity

[kwokpot]

On 7/21/2022 at 8:02 AM, mitz18 said:

thanks - that is what I figured and why we are still thinking.....

The IV room isn't a balcony. It's an Oceanview room with a panoramic window that opens from the top down. The room is setup to resemble a balcony. They use frosted Bi fold doors, similar to closet doors, to simulate a balcony. But the 'balcony' space is indoors, there's no outdoor space. The idea is to leave the window down and simulate a balcony. If all you want from a balcony cabin is to get fresh air, and enjoy some views, the IV cabin is great. But if you enjoy having a real outdoor space, then don't get an IV cabin. 

[KKB]

On 7/20/2022 at 4:14 PM, mitz18 said:

 

May I ask what it was about the infinity balcony she did not like? Just curious as have been thinking of booking one...TIA

We upgraded from a porthole balcony to an IV on the Apex in March.

We were quite happy with IV. 

We loved how it extended the room when not in use.

When the window was down it is like most balconies, imo.

I know there is a love/hate relationship with IV.

I would say we are neither of those, but more ambivalent. 

But then again, we are happy with interiors most of the time, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. 
(we like balconies; we just find we don't use them enough to justify much extra cost--we are out & about on the the ship; but there are plenty of people who spend a lot of time on their balcony)

[KKB]

@LeafsFanNL enjoying your TR!

I am obsessed with E-class after 2 weeks on the Edge last summer & a week on the Apex this spring.

Beyond tentatively booked for February.

 

LOL Iove that you thing Sunset bar doesn't have shade. 

You should see Edge/Apex with NO shade AT ALL.

This looks amazing comparatively!

[mitz18]

1 hour ago, KKB said:

We upgraded from a porthole balcony to an IV on the Apex in March.

We were quite happy with IV. 

We loved how it extended the room when not in use.

When the window was down it is like most balconies, imo.

I know there is a love/hate relationship with IV.

I would say we are neither of those, but more ambivalent. 

But then again, we are happy with interiors most of the time, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. 
(we like balconies; we just find we don't use them enough to justify much extra cost--we are out & about on the the ship; but there are plenty of people who spend a lot of time on their balcony)

 

Thanks.  I can picture the IV, but the porthole balcony just seems odd.  We decided to book the IV as a "new" experience as the cruise is a port of call heavy & not that much time at sea.   Appreciate the various replies..

[verizon]

1 hour ago, KKB said:

@LeafsFanNL enjoying your TR!

I am obsessed with E-class after 2 weeks on the Edge last summer & a week on the Apex this spring.

Beyond tentatively booked for February.

 

LOL Iove that you thing Sunset bar doesn't have shade. 

You should see Edge/Apex with NO shade AT ALL.

This looks amazing comparatively!

I like you.Beyond is one of th best ship Celebrity ever has.

It will be hard for me to cruise on Solstices and Millennium Class ships again.

[LeafsFanNL]

2 hours ago, KKB said:

@LeafsFanNL enjoying your TR!

I am obsessed with E-class after 2 weeks on the Edge last summer & a week on the Apex this spring.

Beyond tentatively booked for February.

 

LOL Iove that you thing Sunset bar doesn't have shade. 

You should see Edge/Apex with NO shade AT ALL.

This looks amazing comparatively!

I'm sorry.  That's a picture of the sunset bar on the Infinity.  I should have mentioned that in my post