Beyond LIVE Med Review 10/20-10/30: Tales from our Suite Roman Holiday

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, GenerationX said:

I have a TA on the lookout for good spring and summer low solo supplements on Seabourn, Azamara, Scenic Ocean and Ritz Carlton.

Never heard of Scenic Ocean. Time to do some research.

 

1 hour ago, GenerationX said:

...with Celebrity right now it seems like every few weeks there’s some new change (announced with varying levels of transparency) and I just don’t have much confidence that the product I book and pay for in January will be anything like what I get when I sail in April.

[Mrs_Tiki]

Charla, I was just thinking about you today as we begin the two- week countdown to the Ascent. Wish that you were going to be with us, but I will do my best to share some photos and commentary to help you weather your temporary cruise drought.

 

Tiki_Man and I have come to the same conclusion as you. No more Retreat for us unless prices are reasonable. We have not given up on X entirely, have an Aqua cabin booked on Equinox this spring. But we loved our October cruise on Seabourn and are looking hard at a Med cruise with them in the fall. It’s hard to justify paying X a similar per diem for a Sky Suite when the experience in a standard suite on Seabourn is as good or better!

 

I am sorry to hear that your family suffered a loss this holiday season. All the more reason to hold Jeremy and Gen Z close! 

Edited January 6 by Mrs_Tiki

[GenerationX]

1 hour ago, CruiseCrew123 said:

@GenerationX have you looked at Explora Journeys ? New suite only ships owned by MSC ?

I have heard about Explora and I’m very interested! I think though with both Explora and Ritz I’ll probably wait another year or so to try to sail unless I see a really good price.  The early reviews from both seem a little mixed and I think they may be working through some start up pains as both are still so new.

[GenerationX]

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

 

Loved following along on your adventures.  Looking forward to your next sailing. 

 

 Your review of MSC, combined with the actions that Celebrity has taken since our last cruise with regard to Sky Suite Service and the DPB, has inspired us to take our first non-Celebrity/Royal Caribbean cruise since 2009.   We are sailing on MSC Divina February 11 and I am sure I'll be making comments and posting some pictures as usual. 

 

 

Bon voyage!  I’ll be looking for your posts on the MSC board and very interested to see what you think of Divina.  
 

I think the food and service in YC on Divina was a bit better than what we had on the much larger Seascape.  
 

Im sure he’s on a new contract by now, but if by some miracle you happen to see my fabulous butler Kevin, please tell him hello for me and that I still think of him every time my husband’s response to me running behind getting ready for a dinner reservation isn’t to bring me a cosmo to sip while I’m finishing my hair.

[GenerationX]

1 hour ago, RichYak said:

Never heard of Scenic Ocean. Time to do some research.

 

I hadn’t heard of them either until earlier this year. There was a chef I was really into on Top Chef All-stars who mentioned in one of his interviews that he was the head of culinary for a luxury cruise line.  Once I heard my favorite words I google stalked down which line he worked for and turned out it was Scenic.  
 

Of course now that I’ve googled and been on their website, the ever present big brother of the Metaverse has their ads and promos popping up in all my social media feeds.
 

From what I’ve researched they sound like a higher end Viking where shore experience is as big of a focus as the ship.  They had me interested at kayaks, submersibles and a chopper available for certain sailings.  There aren’t a lot of reviews and their CC board is VERY quiet, I presume because they’re so small.

 

If you dig up any good intel please share!

[GenerationX]

1 hour ago, Stem to Stern said:

Hi Charla,  Happy Snowy Saturday!  It is so nice to see you come back for the wrap up.  I am sure with all of the changes happening at Celebrity a long pause for reflection was needed.  As for the negative portion of your post, I really do appreciate how you always call it like you see it with exquisite eloquence and a little bit of humor sprinkled in there.  Hopefully Celebrity is getting the many messages like these from all of their loyal clientele.

 

I am very happy to read about your preference of Celebrity Beyond.  DH and I will be taking up residence in a Sunset Verandah on board her in about eight-months for our inaugural Edge-class sailing.  We are very excited.

 

Our recent trial in MSC Yacht Club was not perfect, but as you said for the money it was darn near close and there was an army of butlers.  Seascape's Yacht Club enclave is spacious, service was good, and food was okay.  It is great to have options.  MSC Yacht Club will remain on our shopping list.  Our recent Sky Suite experience on Celebrity Summit really can't be faulted in any way.  The food and service were on point.  We do not require constant looking after, so even without a large team The Retreat delivered for us.

 

Why not also explore Crystal Cruises for your next solo sojourn?  We have not sailed them since 2017, but the experience was most memorable.  I have read good reports about New Crystal and I understand the ships are not sailing anywhere near full passenger capacity.  So if you are looking to book a little closer to sailing, maybe there are or will be deals on Crystal to be had.

 

Thanks again for all of the wonderful reporting you do on Cruise Critic.  Had it not been for one of your live reports, I might never have given MSC Cruises a glance.  Please accept my deepest condolences on your family's loss.  Best wishes for a better 2024.

Thank you so much! I will definitely take a look at Crystal as well.

 

Oh and thank you so much for the fantastic side by side review of Summit and Seascape!  I am way late to the party and just started catching up on it the past couple of days, but found myself nodding along with a lot of your comments.

 

I know you guys have your cruise buddies already, but if you don’t mind Jeremy and I crashing, let us know which Beyond sailing you’ll be on.  You guys seem like you’d be a blast to sail with!
 

[RichYak]

2 minutes ago, GenerationX said:

If you dig up any good intel please share!

Will do. Do consider Explora Journeys as well. You mentioned they had startup issues, which is true, but I think they are nearly through them. There's a thread on the MSC board by morpheus comparing MSC YC and Explora Journeys which I've found helpful. Still on front page of that board. 

 

They are definitely on my radar screen. I haven't booked them because I have 2 daughters getting married in the next 1.5 years and my travel budget is in disarray. I'm sailing vicariously through others' "live from" threads for a while.

[Stem to Stern]

10 minutes ago, GenerationX said:

I know you guys have your cruise buddies already, but if you don’t mind Jeremy and I crashing, let us know which Beyond sailing you’ll be on.  You guys seem like you’d be a blast to sail with!

I envision nonstop laughter if the six of us got together.  

Rosie and I are stealth and persistent deal hunters.

We recently capitalized on unbeatable group rates through a newly discovered TA.

Dealing with a new TA can be unsettling, but she seems to be legit.

Sadly, at this point in time there is no more Retreat in our future.

DH and I sail next on Silhouette 4/4/2024.

All 4 of us are booked on 9/7/2024 Beyond and 11/30/2025 Xcel.

We are looking at quotes on 8/15/2025 Silhouette repo from Iceland to Boston.

[dani negreanu]

Charla, I was eagerly and patiently waiting for your "finale".

 

Thank you, as always, for a riveting review, transporting me, sadly only momentarily, to another "planet".

 

[Lena11033]

I'm sorry about your loss Charla

 

Thanks for the review, unfortunately it doesn't surprise me. The current prices are well stupid, my cruise coming up suddenly a lot of sky suites are available, shocker. I agree with European ports are port intensive personally I wouldn't even consider Retreat for that I had for Caribbean ones but not now with the prices, plus the fact I travel alone that they would add like an extra $5k to the bill 🙄

 

 

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Thanks for the wrap up and the great reviews you always do.  Don't get me started either on Celebrity's current single pricing.  If your TA turns up anything interesting on other lines, I'd love to know about it.  lajessen at yahoo dot com.  I think my Celebrity days are probably over.  Certainly my Retreat days are over with their current pricing structure.  Too bad.  I love the ships and the crew, but those greedy folks in Miami are turning into a real PIA.  Something to be aware of with Explora--they charge a $200 cancelation fee any time you cancel, even a year before.  I got stuck with one of those, so I've been reluctant to book anything with them since.

[mac_tlc]

@GenerationX thanks for the final review. We are in a SS on the Ascent in a couple weeks, along with @Mrs_Tiki and other CC folks. At this point I do plan on doing a “LIVE” while onboard. 
 

This will be our first SS since the myriad of changes, none of which seem good, but we will let our experience form our final opinion. Although, at the current prices, we will not be booking any Retreat experiences. We got this sailing at what now appears to be a ridiculously low price, and we snagged a very similar price for the 1/4/2026 Xcel sailings. Absent prices like that, we will sadly bid adieu to the Retreat. Too bad, we could have been very happy continuing our time on Celebrity. 
 

Hope to sail with you again, our plans are always in my signature.

 

Thanks again,

mac_tlc

[Redking]

4 hours ago, GenerationX said:

I hadn’t heard of them either until earlier this year. There was a chef I was really into on Top Chef All-stars who mentioned in one of his interviews that he was the head of culinary for a luxury cruise line.  Once I heard my favorite words I google stalked down which line he worked for and turned out it was Scenic.  
 

Of course now that I’ve googled and been on their website, the ever present big brother of the Metaverse has their ads and promos popping up in all my social media feeds.
 

From what I’ve researched they sound like a higher end Viking where shore experience is as big of a focus as the ship.  They had me interested at kayaks, submersibles and a chopper available for certain sailings.  There aren’t a lot of reviews and their CC board is VERY quiet, I presume because they’re so small.

 

If you dig up any good intel please share!

Fortuitous that I've dropped in here because we're doing our first Scenic Eclipse cruise in nine weeks (can you sense the excitement) from Chile to Tahiti  via Easter Island, a couple of other Chilean Islands and two of the Gambier Islands in French polynesia. We're then booked with them to do Antarctica in January 2025 (from NZ which is brilliant for us). We've cancelled our remaining Celbrity bookings to do Scenic on the recommendation of friends so 🤞I think it will require a shift in our thinking back to destination and not just the ship or discovery yacht as they call it. Closest I'll likely get to being on a gin Palace so I intend to consume G&T's and Negronis on a regular basis 🤣

As you say Charla, there's very little action on their CC forum so I plan to do a live(ish) and will post a link.

There's also a great doco on them called Maritime Masters, not sure what streaming service it's on in the US? It features Tom Goetter, the chef that you mentioned.

 

Also a good FB group, not a roll call, so hopeful I can mention it😱 Scenic Eclipse Cruisers. 

 

Watch this space!

[Redking]

5 hours ago, GenerationX said:

I have heard about Explora and I’m very interested! I think though with both Explora and Ritz I’ll probably wait another year or so to try to sail unless I see a really good price.  The early reviews from both seem a little mixed and I think they may be working through some start up pains as both are still so new.

Agree!

[Kteacher]

Thank you Charla! I always enjoy and appreciate your reviews. We’re also exploring other cruise lines. MSC YC was great, and we got a really good rate, but reviews lately have been mixed and prices have increased. Looking forward to your next adventure.

[theopup]

Hi Charla

 

Thanks for your follow up remarks, and Happy New Year to you all.

 

I am also sorry to hear of your recent loss,

 

Hope to read more travel reviews from you soon

 

The best to you all in 2024

 

[hcat]

Hi Charla and her loyal followers.

 

HOPE YOU  HAVE A HAPPY & HEALTHY NEW YR!  ( Condolences to those who lost dear friends and loved ones in 2023 )

 

 Loved the cruise themed  XMAS tree!

 

Sal and I are Counting down to my birthday cruise (another big one),  on ASCENT.. I will post a bit but not a  live from review. 

 

After trying a SS on BEYOND pre- Butlergate,  and enjoying a "Creak Free" suite,  we  are going back to Aq Class...That's our  favorite spot.. We like BLU and Thermal suite..and have bookings in Fine Cut  Rooftop and Eden. Plus lots of spa for me!

 

After that we are going back to S Class, Prime Concierge on Silhouette,  and  then an SV on APEX.  No plans past those  cruises and undecided about XL..

 

Hope to read some great reviews in 2024!

Edited January 7 by hcat

[Smmessineo]

17 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

@GenerationX thanks for the final review. We are in a SS on the Ascent in a couple weeks, along with @Mrs_Tiki and other CC folks. At this point I do plan on doing a “LIVE” while onboard. 
 

This will be our first SS since the myriad of changes, none of which seem good, but we will let our experience form our final opinion. Although, at the current prices, we will not be booking any Retreat experiences. We got this sailing at what now appears to be a ridiculously low price, and we snagged a very similar price for the 1/4/2026 Xcel sailings. Absent prices like that, we will sadly bid adieu to the Retreat. Too bad, we could have been very happy continuing our time on Celebrity. 
 

Hope to sail with you again, our plans are always in my signature.

 

Thanks again,

mac_tlc

We're on the January 21 cruise with you! It's the second half of a b2b . Looking forward to your live review😃

We never felt the need for Aqua or Suite cruises, but couldn't resist  those crazy deals... Aqua on Ascent and the Xcel in  a suite .  

From everything I've read lately on CC, I understand why loyal Celebrity suite fans are looking for better options. 

 

[Mcgeneseo]

Charla, I'm sorry for your loss.  We leave in two weeks for a cruise on Apex (7 day Key West and Belize ). We cruised on Beyond a year ago and had some issues with Luminae until we asked to be moved. This cruise we are in an Aqua Sky Suite unless a move up bid is accepted.  I will probably report on things and if I'm organized I'll try to do sorta live. I know I need sun and something warmer than 25 degrees with 8 inches of fresh snow....

[Texed]

6 hours ago, Smmessineo said:

We're on the January 21 cruise with you! It's the second half of a b2b .

 

So are we.  😊

[swigso]

Hi Charla,

I always look forward to to your reviews and posts. Similar to you the new changes have not gone down well. We sailed on Azamara in October as we too will not pay the crazy prices that X are now charging. 
The ship was lovely the food and service were amazing and because we were in a continental suite we had a number of extra perks. EG: laundry (complimentary) came back on hangers all pressed.

 

However the ship just felt too small for us, there was no Casino and we definitely 

missed the different spaces and lounges on the X ships. We have not booked any new X cruises, we moved a cruise booked on board from Hawaii to a TA on the Apex.   We looked at the prior sailing to make it a B2B but the retreat price was over £500 per night. So we had a look and decided on the Sun Princess.

They have introduced a new suite class with a private lounge restaurant etc.

Also included are Wi-Fi Drinks upto $20 and Gratuities for a cost of £325 per night. So let us wait and see, we may book AQ on S class but will not be paying the retreat prices. 

[Beachlover1989]

@GenerationX Thank you so much for your summary - it was very well said and appreciated by all of us...if only the heads at X would read some of these things and realize what they have done to their future.  After all of us stop sailing X because of these changes (especially suites), I think they will see bookings really start to dramatically drop.  I have two children in their 30's and I know that they and their spouses would in no way pay these prices, even though they're all doing really well.

 

I'm so very sorry for your family's loss during the holidays.  Lisa

[smeck]

On 10/21/2023 at 4:41 PM, abbydancer said:

Personally, I find this hard to believe, although she maybe hasn't heard any feedback yet, since she talks to people precruise?

Funny I’m in an Aqua class sky suite and haven’t heard a peep from the shoreside concierge.  I sail in five days on the beyond.  When I sailed in the Haven on NCL I got a letter, asking for preferences.  I’m afraid Celebrity will not live up to expectations only time will tell. 

 

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

5 hours ago, smeck said:

Funny I’m in an Aqua class sky suite and haven’t heard a peep from the shoreside concierge.  I sail in five days on the beyond.  When I sailed in the Haven on NCL I got a letter, asking for preferences.  I’m afraid Celebrity will not live up to expectations only time will tell. 

 

 

The shoreside concierges generally only contact those in upper level suites.

[pcrum]

Great review. I wonder if you would share details about your day trip to Tuscany from Rome before the cruise?  We are doing a TA that ends in Rome and spending several days in Rome afterwards. Thank you.