Observations From The Poop Deck : BEYOND NOV 20-27 2022

[CruisinBanka]

1 hour ago, morpheusofthesea said:

I tried something new and delicious (for me) at Cafe al Bacio and now wish I was going B2B on this ship. It is probably familiar to everyone else on the planet, but my DW treats me like a parent that never introduces a newborn to sweets. Celebrity to me is like going to grandma and grandpa's and finally having a whole new world opened up to me. They are called 'financiers'.  I just asked for one to try and the young lady gave me two along with a piece of black forest cake and a cherry tart. Well these financiers are a soft cookie square cake like pancakes or waffles with the syrup already mixed in. Heaven in a cookie.

Wow! Count me in trying those when I’m on in February! Been on numerous Celebrity cruises and never heard of them. Love to see a picture of what they look like if you see them again. Thanks! 

[CruisinBanka]

1 hour ago, morpheusofthesea said:

I guess there are many parents on board just like my DW, that have not introduced their kids to this self serve soft ice cream machine. It is fully loaded and the cones on the right side dispenser is indication it is ready to go. It is 1 pm and the height of the lunch hour at the Mast Grill  outside the Solarium starboard side and I have never seen a line form.

Thanks for the heads up! Must be exclusive to Beyond because never seen an ice cream machine at Mast Grille on other Celebrity ships. Always had to go to OVC. 

[morpheusofthesea]

28 minutes ago, CruisinBanka said:

Wow! Count me in trying those when I’m on in February! Been on numerous Celebrity cruises and never heard of them. Love to see a picture of what they look like if you see them again. Thanks! 

Went on the internet and these are exactly what they look like. As I do all my internet in the cabin, laying on my balcony deck lounge digesting these lovely creations. (The sugar makes one too lazy and if I go back down to Al Bacio now I will ruin my dinner eating another 1/2 dozen.)

[morpheusofthesea]

Tonight is our last evening on board this cruise. At lunch today in Luminae the one question asked by all the members of our dining team was "Will we be back for dinner?" It is considered tip night.....( a yes answer brings a smile )

[morpheusofthesea]

Chit chatting with staff we heard that many had a tough time during the pandemic getting back home. It took 3 months of no pay, being transferred from ship to ship and still required to work as more and more crew were being consolidated from all the ships onto certain ships sailing to repatriate the crew. Many did not come back.

[RedneckBob]

2 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

I tried something new and delicious (for me) at Cafe al Bacio and now wish I was going B2B on this ship. It is probably familiar to everyone else on the planet, but my DW treats me like a parent that never introduces a newborn to sweets. Celebrity to me is like going to grandma and grandpa's and finally having a whole new world opened up to me. They are called 'financiers'.  I just asked for one to try and the young lady gave me two along with a piece of black forest cake and a cherry tart. Well these financiers are a soft cookie square cake like pancakes or waffles with the syrup already mixed in. Heaven in a cookie.

Oh no, you spilled the beans, I mean the financiers. I thought our group ate them all on the 11/13/22 cruise and they would be nothing left but thank goodness they did not run out like the Diet Cokes! Thank goodness the US custom dogs cannot detect the cookies in my suitcase! 😀

[CruisinBanka]

30 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Went on the internet and these are exactly what they look like. As I do all my internet in the cabin, laying on my balcony deck lounge digesting these lovely creations. (The sugar makes one too lazy and if I go back down to Al Bacio now I will ruin my dinner eating another 1/2 dozen.)

Lol.  Thanks so much! Will be sure to try them. 

[Mike981]

26 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Chit chatting with staff we heard that many had a tough time during the pandemic getting back home. It took 3 months of no pay, being transferred from ship to ship and still required to work as more and more crew were being consolidated from all the ships onto certain ships sailing to repatriate the crew. Many did not come back.

 

That is crazy!

 

Thank you for the review, I enjoyed it very much.

[lizinindy]

Thanks for your excellent and balanced review. I wish I had seen this thread earlier in your trip so I could have recommended you ask your Luminae waiter for the Chocolate Bomb for dessert. Maybe they served it during the rotation? They pour liqueur on a chocolate sphere and then light it aflame. The shell melts and you’re left with a brownie like cake with ice cream. Dramatic and delicious!

[hrhdhd]

2 hours ago, CruisinBanka said:

Thanks for the heads up! Must be exclusive to Beyond because never seen an ice cream machine at Mast Grille on other Celebrity ships. Always had to go to OVC. 

There's one on Apex.

[odysee]

3 hours ago, CruisinBanka said:

Thanks for the heads up! Must be exclusive to Beyond because never seen an ice cream machine at Mast Grille on other Celebrity ships. Always had to go to OVC. 

There is one on the Reflection as well as noted and used during recent TA and I have seen it before on at least 1 other S class ship, can t remember which one now.

Edited November 26, 2022 by odysee

[morpheusofthesea]

well tonights final show of the cruise is called Stage Door. Photo of marquee below. I must say they saved the best for last. Well worth seeing again.

I panned  a 22 second video of The Theater 2 minutes before the 7pm show time. Plenty of seats. I am sure if the passengers on board knew how good this production was more would have attended. Perhaps if they started with this production we would be more forgiving of the other productions.

[morpheusofthesea]

To close out this travelogue with another quote from Voltaire "To really enjoy pleasures, you must know how to leave them."

[Barwick Cruiser]

2 hours ago, odysee said:

There is one on the Reflection as well as noted and used during recent TA and I have seen it before on at least 1 other S class ship, can t remember which one now.

Was on the Eclipse at the Mast Grill in September as well, although the ice cream coming out was quite soft and didn’t look too appetizing. 

[kwokpot]

1 hour ago, morpheusofthesea said:

well tonights final show of the cruise is called Stage Door. Photo of marquee below. I must say they saved the best for last. Well worth seeing again.

I panned  a 22 second video of The Theater 2 minutes before the 7pm show time. Plenty of seats. I am sure if the passengers on board knew how good this production was more would have attended. Perhaps if they started with this production we would be more forgiving of the other productions.

IMG_2538.MOV

I'm glad you enjoyed one of the production shows. I'm curious though, what was it about about this show that was different enough that you enjoyed it? It's in the same theater, same performers, same high definition video screens, same high tech theater. 

[morpheusofthesea]

7 hours ago, kwokpot said:

I'm glad you enjoyed one of the production shows. I'm curious though, what was it about about this show that was different enough that you enjoyed it? It's in the same theater, same performers, same high definition video screens, same high tech theater. 

When it comes to the arts, like food, it is idiosyncratic and I am reminded of another famous quote by our one time Justice Potter Stewart when asked about obscenity, like art, “ I know it when I see it .”

[CruisinBanka]

16 hours ago, hrhdhd said:

There's one on Apex.

Thanks for the info! Haven’t been on Apex yet but didn’t see one on the Edge unless they have recently added one. 

[CruisinBanka]

16 hours ago, odysee said:

There is one on the Reflection as well as noted and used during recent TA and I have seen it before on at least 1 other S class ship, can t remember which one now.

Thanks! Haven’t been on the Reflection but was recently on Summit and didn’t see one. Maybe they are adding them fleetwide. 

[CruisinBanka]

14 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

well tonights final show of the cruise is called Stage Door. Photo of marquee below. I must say they saved the best for last. Well worth seeing again.

I panned  a 22 second video of The Theater 2 minutes before the 7pm show time. Plenty of seats. I am sure if the passengers on board knew how good this production was more would have attended. Perhaps if they started with this production we would be more forgiving of the other productions.

Thanks for your excellent honest review. I enjoyed following along and you heightened my anticipation for my B3B on Beyond in February 

[dreamer321]

morpheusofthesea, you are a champion for posting all the great videos, pictures and the daily planners.  

 

Thank you for taking the time to post all this information. I really appreciate it.

[Arzeena]

On 11/19/2022 at 7:18 PM, morpheusofthesea said:

Took a plunge earlier on a move-up offer and just today, 24 hours before sailing, got an email informing me of my bid failure. What is funny is that I told my TA to cancel the move-up bid some weeks ago. Sort of happy it was declined anyway. Be in a real pickle having upgraded some weeks ago.

   Been reading reports from the Beyond as beautiful, but no 10 out of 10 ratings for everything else. Things do change rather quickly every cruise. Last month, just days before our cruise, read a report of chicken pox on board. Once on board all prior problems just melted away. When on the Edge all the top service people we came in contact with on the ship were just receiving notice of their transfers and promotions to the Beyond. Hoping to see some familiar (can't say 'faces' as everyone was masked) figures. We have discovered that often familiarity enhances a cruise measurably. Little details that a waiter remembers, a butler/host, or a steward.

  Had a shore side concierge email contact with us. Found that one must wait to get on board to really get what one wants. (If everything is taken care of by shoreside concierge no reason to get tipped). The host/butler prides themselves in changing the type of liquor or procuring a lounge chair for the balcony or straightening out dinner reservations ( everything is always booked months out and they can work miracles on board).

  Here is hoping embarkation is not a fiasco. Tomorrow is expected to be 66% chance of rain.

I just saw this!
I really enjoy your reviews. Thanks for posting.

[HMR74]

On 11/26/2022 at 3:33 PM, RedneckBob said:

Oh no, you spilled the beans, I mean the financiers. I thought our group ate them all on the 11/13/22 cruise and they would be nothing left but thank goodness they did not run out like the Diet Cokes! Thank goodness the US custom dogs cannot detect the cookies in my suitcase! 😀

I can say Royal has nothingsimilar. Promenade cafe (no ambiance like Bacio)  there  missing the true upscale coffees and little  deserts.

[morpheusofthesea]

On 11/21/2022 at 11:16 AM, danceswithphones said:

I liked the red and green lights around the elevators. As near as I could figure if the door opened, and it was headed in your selected direction, the lights were green. If not, they were red. 

Green is up, red is going down. But your observation is just as valid.

Edited November 28, 2022 by morpheusofthesea

[morpheusofthesea]

Got home and immediately received the satisfaction survey the same day. (They don't waste any time) They are giving us til Dec 4 to reply, but I felt I might forget by then the wonderful times we had so I felt obliged to sit down and fill it out. One is hit with the 3 most important questions on the first page. Overall experience , Would recommend to friends, and how likely to cruise with Celebrity again. We gave them 10-10-10. I think that says it all. Adieu.

[FLCruiser97]

Thank you Mr. Morpheus once again for allowing us to follow along with you on your adventure. I look forward to your next journey.