Rare Stealthdog Posted December 10, 2022 #1 Share Posted December 10, 2022 (edited) This post was recognized by LauraS! "Yay! Another from Stealthdog! Thank you for generously sharing your time at sea with everyone at Cruise Critic!" Stealthdog was awarded the badge '"Live from...."' and 5 points. We are continuing the second leg of a B2B (or side to side) and board the Celebrity Beyond this Sunday in Fort Lauderdale. We are currently finishing our first leg on the Royal Odyssey of the Seas. This will be our 4th Celebrity sailing, and have also sailed Royal, Norwegian, and Disney. I plan this review to be mostly live, but I might have some portions that will be done post cruise. Some information in case people have specific questions about cabin, dining, status perks, etc: - We booked a Concierge Class balcony but upgraded to Aqua Class in the bid-up process. We are excited for that because we have only sailed Aqua Class on Celebrity. - We will spend most of our time in the Blu restaurant but will try a few of the new MDRs and may go to one Specialty Restaurant. If we do, it will probably be Eden. - We bought the non-alcohol package and are bringing 3 bottles of wine on board with us (our TA has a fourth bottle waiting for us on board). - We have Select status. - We purchased an internet package. Itinerary for the sailing: Dec 11 - Fort Lauderdale Dec 12 - At Sea Dec 13 - At Sea Dec 14 - St Maarten Dec 15 - St Thomas Dec 16 - Who knows....keeps changing....looks like we are back to Puerto Plata Dec 17 - At Sea Dec 18 - Fort Lauderdale We have been to St Maarten and St Thomas a couple times each, and Puerto Plata for both resort stays, and cruise stops. We booked all of our excursions for this sailing thru a private vendor (Shore Excursions Group). We don't know yet what we will do in Puerto Plata yet because the itinerary just changed again 2 days ago. I'll plan to post menus, the daily, and the entertainment schedule. Ask any question and I'll try to get the answer, post the picture, or provide whatever you want. When this review is done, I'd like to do a follow-up comparison of the Royal Odyssey and Celebrity Beyond since they are both new ships in those fleets, similar sizes, and alot of people seem to have questions about differences between Royal and Celebrity. Below is a link to the current live review of the Odyssey if anyone has interest reading about it. Live Review, Odyssey of the Seas, Dec 3-11 - Page 5 - Royal Caribbean International - Cruise Critic Community Edited December 10, 2022 by Stealthdog 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S18278C Posted December 10, 2022 #2 Share Posted December 10, 2022 We will be on this cruise as well. We upgraded from Aqua to a Sky suite. Really looking forward to it! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxguy0001 Posted December 10, 2022 #3 Share Posted December 10, 2022 In sky suite too! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare momofmab Posted December 10, 2022 #4 Share Posted December 10, 2022 I'll be on this cruise in January - looking forward to your review! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireEMT978 Posted December 11, 2022 #5 Share Posted December 11, 2022 Curious, as to what your "Observation" is, as to the average age? I'm going to be 52 on NYE! On, the NYE sailing. I'm really stressing, needing some "Fun" times. Not ready for retirement! NEED adrenaline! 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Stealthdog Posted December 11, 2022 Author #6 Share Posted December 11, 2022 6 hours ago, FireEMT978 said: Curious, as to what your "Observation" is, as to the average age? I'm going to be 52 on NYE! On, the NYE sailing. I'm really stressing, needing some "Fun" times. Not ready for retirement! NEED adrenaline! Will let you know. We are already in port on the Odyssey and watching the Beyond arrive now! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Stealthdog Posted December 11, 2022 Author #7 Share Posted December 11, 2022 (edited) Here is a better pic of the Beyond arriving. It looks like we will be boarding her next to Holland American Neuw Amsterdam, also shown. Edited December 11, 2022 by Stealthdog 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Stealthdog Posted December 11, 2022 Author #8 Share Posted December 11, 2022 She is almost docked. Its time to grab breakfast, then disembark Odyssey and head over to Beyond for boarding. See everyone on the ship soon! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggieq Posted December 11, 2022 #9 Share Posted December 11, 2022 Does celebrity or rccl provide transportation between ships? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Stealthdog Posted December 11, 2022 Author #10 Share Posted December 11, 2022 7 minutes ago, maggieq said: Does celebrity or rccl provide transportation between ships? Yes. There is a shuttle service. Once we get our luggage, rccl will put us on a shuttle to get to the next pier. Ill descibe that process once we are finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YensidCA Posted December 11, 2022 #11 Share Posted December 11, 2022 @Stealthdog your posting from your last sailing were awesome and I can't wait to see the next week. I'm on the Beyond on Feb 5-12 Eastern Caribbean and wonder what's in store for us. Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Mcgeneseo Posted December 11, 2022 #12 Share Posted December 11, 2022 I'm also on the Feb 5th sailing. I wonder why Puerto Plata keeps changing. I don't plan on getting off the ship much, but just curious. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YensidCA Posted December 11, 2022 #13 Share Posted December 11, 2022 12 minutes ago, Mcgeneseo said: I'm also on the Feb 5th sailing. I wonder why Puerto Plata keeps changing. I don't plan on getting off the ship much, but just curious. I did not know this about Puerto Plata but I'm like you probably will not get off the ship on that day. That island does nothing for me. I would love for them to change it to Turks and Caicos as we have friends who live there. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwokpot Posted December 11, 2022 #14 Share Posted December 11, 2022 11 hours ago, FireEMT978 said: Curious, as to what your "Observation" is, as to the average age? I'm going to be 52 on NYE! On, the NYE sailing. I'm really stressing, needing some "Fun" times. Not ready for retirement! NEED adrenaline! What do you mean by "fun" times? I see you're mainly a Royal cruiser. The vibe on Celebrity is decidedly different. It's a much more laid back cruiseline. It's a 'make your own kind of fun' cruiseline. What exactly are you looking for? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare horseymike Posted December 11, 2022 #15 Share Posted December 11, 2022 Really enjoying your live B to B review. Thank you . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Stealthdog Posted December 11, 2022 Author #16 Share Posted December 11, 2022 OMG - first reaction is this ship is gorgeous! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Texed Posted December 11, 2022 #17 Share Posted December 11, 2022 8 minutes ago, Stealthdog said: OMG - first reaction is this ship is gorgeous! I agree. Beyond is one beautiful ship. 😊 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lastdance Posted December 11, 2022 #18 Share Posted December 11, 2022 (edited) I am certainly hoping that I love this ship, as have booked a b2b/TA for this spring. Sunset Suite for first leg and SV for second. In addition, I booked her for a 10 day Caribbean next December. The pricing is absurd from what I paid on all three cruises. $6,000 difference on SS alone! I guess 'fun" is relative to each individual, but I love Celebrity's relaxed environment. OP, I hope you have a lovely time on Beyond! Edited December 11, 2022 by Lastdance 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingCircusof5 Posted December 11, 2022 #19 Share Posted December 11, 2022 I wonder what the deal is with Puerto Plata. I read on another thread that it is changing too. What would be the reason for that? Also, where do you check your cruise to see if ports are changing? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Stealthdog Posted December 11, 2022 Author #20 Share Posted December 11, 2022 6 hours ago, maggieq said: Does celebrity or rccl provide transportation between ships? It turned out being a little mess, but we got to the ship. 🙂 After getting the luggage and leaving the pier, we asked an employee for the port transfers, and they directed us to where all the shuttle buses are located. The company RCCL contracts manages all the tranfers and buses. They were really friendly, but it did not seem as if there was a standard vehicle used. They have the passenger manifests for the airport transfers and a list of all the piers in port and where each ship is located. After a couple of minutes of the staff debating, they put our luggage on an airport transfer bus and dropped us off at Pier 25 (Beyond's location) before leaving for the airport. We were worried they would drive straight to airport and then bring us back after, but they took care of us. It was fairly quick - maybe 10-15 minutes, but the distance between Pier 18 and Pier 25 is some distance and we were appreciative we didn't have to roll 4 suitcases on foot across the port. While sitting in the waiting area to board the Beyond, another couple from a B2B on the Odyssey said they were put in a small van and transported over that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Stealthdog Posted December 11, 2022 Author #21 Share Posted December 11, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, TravelingCircusof5 said: I wonder what the deal is with Puerto Plata. I read on another thread that it is changing too. What would be the reason for that? Also, where do you check your cruise to see if ports are changing? We did not get much of an explanation when they first changed it a few weeks ago. The message from Celebrity was Puerto Plata was "port congestion" that day and our port was being changed to Turks and Caicos. We were notified 3-4 days ago that the port was being changed back to Puerto Plata again. We were excited about the change from Puerto Plata to Turks and Caicos because we have been to Puerto Plata a few times (both land resort and cruise stop) and have never been to Turks and Caicos. But, we are doing the excursion at Puerto Plata (some waterfall activity) that I was most looking forward to between the two cruises, so I'm ok with it back on. For your question 2nd question - you should receive an email from Celebrity if there are any changes to your itinerary. If you booked through a TA, he or she will also receive notification of any change. Edited December 11, 2022 by Stealthdog 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Stealthdog Posted December 11, 2022 Author #22 Share Posted December 11, 2022 Day 1 Daily 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Stealthdog Posted December 11, 2022 Author #23 Share Posted December 11, 2022 Had a little free time before the Spa Raffle, so I thought I'd get the door decorations done early this time. Changed it up a little from the previous cruise. Hope the staff enjoys it! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Stealthdog Posted December 11, 2022 Author #24 Share Posted December 11, 2022 We have also made it a habit to bring 4 bottles of wine on board with us. This is no different. We put two bottles in one backpack and two in another backpack and went through security with no issues. We also were gifted a bottle from our TA (it was supposed to be Caymus, but it is Heitz Cellar and I have never heard of them). This may be our most impressive stockpile of wine on a cruise ship. Not sure how we are going to drink all 5, but we will figure it out. 🙂 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene225 Posted December 11, 2022 #25 Share Posted December 11, 2022 Following excitedly as we sail just after you. Thank you for sharing your vacation! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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