Beyond Awesome! Live from ABC islands September 7, 2024

[SGCruiser2013]

Entertainment update part 2, some of my personal views:

 

- Charity Lockhart part 2 (Whitney tribute) - Charity is so talented. Pretty close to as good with the first night we saw her. This was a matinee performance which was cool and very well attended. Yes she sung “the song” and yes she hit “the notes”.

 

- Ralph Harris (regular show and 18+ show) - 

Ralph was a ton of energy. The first 20 minutes of his main show was nonstop physical and verbal humor, and continuous laughing at ourselves regarding cruising and cruise passengers. Then he did a mixture of audience crosstalk and acting, and I think everyone really enjoyed it. In the 18+ show, it wasn’t crass or dirty for the most part but did take on other subjects eg women vs men, and some s(ex) jokes, which were all pretty hilarious. 9/10

 

- Travis Coer (singer) - We were looking forward to this show as Travis has quite a pedigree. He was the Jersey Boys lead in Vegas for something like ~10 years. So, naturally, he was very impressive singing the Jersey Boys tunes. This also translated to other songs in the upper register like Bee Gees etc, however, other songs I felt like his vocal style and range fell short. 7.5/10

 

- Eden performance cast debut of “House of Decadence” (could have just been Decadence). We were so impressed with the Eden cast in the Jazz show at the Theatre, we were excited to see them again. While good, not as awesome as the Jazz show and frankly the Eden venue for shows is a bit of a chair hogging, moving and squishing, difficult situation to navigate. 7/10.

 

- Stage Door with main production cast - awesome production we really enjoyed it. We love broadway so given it was broadway heavy probably a forgone conclusion. 10/10 and great way to cap our cruise. 
 

Overall compared to a lot of different, other ships and lines we’ve cruised, this cruise has exceptional range of entertainment options. 
 

 

[PTC DAWG]

On 9/14/2024 at 10:08 AM, SGCruiser2013 said:

I know..weird! I didn’t eat them. They were caramel ones so might have been good. 

I’m sure they were, I would have eaten myself.. 🙂
 

Also, thanks for the entertainment reviews..very helpful for my upcoming cruise..

Edited Sunday at 03:15 PM by PTC DAWG

[persy]

Thanks for taking the time to do this, it’s really appreciated.  Is there a cover band that plays dance music?

[DallasCruiseCouple]

On 9/13/2024 at 3:10 PM, mac_tlc said:

It was close to the Sunset Bar. Near the stairs to the Oceanview Cafe there are some tiered areas, this is one.

 

I would head out about 6:30 - 7 while my wife was still asleep, grab a coffee at OVC and try to find a seat aft to update my LIVE thread. In this alcove, there were five or six others seats, only one of which was “unreserved” for me. 😂

 

 

mac_tlc

Thanks for the info. It's good to know what we might see on board. I'm still laughing over the RESERVED towels sold on amazon! LOL

[boxkite]

We also rented a golf cart from Bonaire Cruisers in Bonaire. Did the South loop.

You do need to reserve in advance as they fill up quickly.

 

Thanks SGCruiser2013 for your cruise review!

[boxkite]

Persy,

 

On our recent ABC cruise on Beyond, there was a band playing dance music several nights by the Martini Bar.

[SGCruiser2013]

On 9/15/2024 at 10:58 AM, persy said:

Thanks for taking the time to do this, it’s really appreciated.  Is there a cover band that plays dance music?

I didn’t see a “cover” band per se, in terms of like a tribute band, but there were lots of acoustic guitar players in Eden consistently as well as around the ship playing and singing their own versions of cover songs. Eden has an awesome, mellow vibe during the acoustic performances. 
 

They did a lot of dance stuff and karaoke in the Club and out on deck. 

[SGCruiser2013]

Final thoughts - thanks for following and reading! 
 

1. Loved my first Celebrity cruise. The Retreat is super special. 10/10

 

2. The people and service, other than perhaps an off night in Blu, were awesome too to bottom. Conversational, interested and highly dedicated. 10/10

 

3. The food choices are numerous and all have their strengths. We weren’t able to try MDR but our party tried most all others. Luminae is truly special and Eden provides one of the best dining experiences I’ve had on a ship - the location, vibe and awesome menu. Le Voyage was great but perhaps slightly less than my very high expectations. 
 

4. The entertainment from top to bottom was top notch. And very diverse, something different each night. Was a full ship but crowds were never unmanageable or irritating. 
 

5. Captain Kate is a treasure for Celebrity. She is so high energy. As a role model and social influencer, she is also always “game on” wherever she goes and is generous with her time consistently. She also goes out of her way for a personal touch - my brother was celebrating his birthday and she took a note down & sent him a card and present. A total rock star of the industry.

 

6. The ship itself is beautiful and has a great layout. We didn’t get confused or lost, but also there are books and hideaways everywhere. Some places are quiet and peaceful even on a new ship. And the ship has a ton of “personality”, different places on the ship have all kinds of different vibes. 
 

It was BEYOND awesome! 

 

 

[zackarykeef]

17 hours ago, SGCruiser2013 said:

3. The food choices are numerous and all have their strengths. We weren’t able to try MDR but our party tried most all others. Luminae is truly special and Eden provides one of the best dining experiences I’ve had on a ship - the location, vibe and awesome menu. Le Voyage was great but perhaps slightly less than my very high expectations. 

 

Thanks so much for your review! We board in the Retreat in 4 days for the same itinerary and can't wait! If you can recall...any nights in Luminae you felt were not as good as the others? We're trying to decide which two nights we want to venture out to Eden and Le Voyage. I guess I can just look at the menus every day and decide, but didn't know if you had any thoughts! Thank you!

[Tyler414]

On 9/11/2024 at 9:06 AM, SGCruiser2013 said:

DePalm Island shore excursion (Aruba) - well our luck ran out a bit as this was a thumbs down for us. Looking for some past reviews on CC, I don’t remember seeing a lot of negatives, however,  I also don’t think I searched thoroughly. We booked this excursion at a fantastic Black Friday rate and perhaps that was part of it.

 

 

The main problems with this were a) another big ship arrived first so the pickings were slim, and b) we got lucky being near first off Celebrity arrival and people behind us were even more challenged. Add in that this nice shade location was under trees with…birds on branches…and let’s just say that ended up being gross for many.

Food was average and mostly long lines for drinks. I’d rate 3/10, not recommended. 

I booked this for my March cruise on Beyond, it came recommended from an Aruba local...

At this time, it appears as if we are the only ship in Aruba the day we are there.

 

My question is knowing what you now know, and being there, would you do this with one ship in port??  It pretty much takes up our entire day in Aruba and at almost $400 for 2 people I can find something else to see and do in Aruba.   Thanks!!

[spammie]

@SGCruiser2013 Great review!  We LOVE the Beyond and have sailed with Captain Kate on Equinox and Edge.  We will be cruising next June with our kids and grandbabies for our 25th Anniversary and want to reserve a cabana for a sea day.  Did you reserve it on line or did you have to call?  When I log on the website it shows the price but not the ability to book it for different days.  Thank you so much!

[boxkite]

Spammie, you should be able to book cabana in the restaurant section from either the website or the app. If they are fully booked for the entire cruise they may not be available to book.