CELEBRITY BEYOND
10-NIGHT SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN
04/18/2025: Port Everglades, Florida
04/19/2025: Sea Day
04/20/2025: Sea Day
04/21/2025: Philipsburg, St. Maarten
04/22/2025: Castries, St. Lucia
04/23/2025: St. George's, Grenada
04/24/2025: Bridgetown, Barbados
04/25/2025: St. John's, Antigua
04/26/2025: Sea Day
04/27/2025: Sea Day
04/28/2025: Port Everglades, Florida
We just got back from our 10-night sailing on the Celebrity Beyond. In addition to this detailed blog, we've posted several video's from this sailing on our YouTube channel. Make sure to check those out and don't forget to Subscribe to our channel. Below is where you can find all of the videos from this trip.
Celebrity Beyond - Full Playlist (Click Here)
PROS
- Tremendous service throughout the entire ship.
- Service across the ship has been great.
- Our Stateroom attendant Andri has been phenomenal, love that he remembers our names. That is something they don't do anymore, so the fact he does is really important.
- Loved that they offered so many different game shows, they were a lot of fun most nights.
- Really enjoyed our trolley ride in Grenada.
- Production and Eden casts were both great.
- Did meet a lot of great people throughout the cruise.
- Dining room teams have been great, especially in Cyprus where we spent most dinners.
- Enjoyed being able to eat any item from any restaurant in any dining room.
- Loved they had a Chef's Special each night in the dining room for dinner.
- Crew was incredible. One of the overall best we've ever encountered.
CONS
- Needs more water stations around the ship, most are not open at all hours making one of the only options being the buffet.
- Lots of people were caughing throughout the cruise, more and more as days went on. Lots of them not covering up when coughing and sneezing, which is in general a huge problem.
- Our excursion in St Lucia, part weather, part operator. Spent a lot of money to get a very lack luster and partly uncomfortable excursion.
- Late night snacks was just leftovers of random food options.
- Pizza section was very inconsistent as far as cook times go, some were fine, more were overdone and burned. Then other points they'd be out of things for long period of times. They always had between 3 and 4 people working at all times and still had either way too many pizzas cooked and sitting there for long periods of time or not done yet. Now it wasn't nearly as bad as Carnival, but on its way there.
- What happened to the famous Celebrity French fries?!? Those were incredible. What they have now is soggy for the most part.
- Not a fan of the overall ship design and what it offers. Felt it lacks on the restaurant selections for a ship it's size. Also the fact where you cannot go from one deck to another efficiently can become a issue for some who constantly get lost.
- By 6am most Sea days most, if not all of the chairs by the main pool were gone.
- Some inconsiderate guests at times. No manners either just walking in front of you, coming right into an elevator before the doors fully open and just plain coughing in your face.
- Ship felt packed more often than not.
- Port days felt like Nassau days at times.
- Noise of the room, very loud creaking, escpeically during the night when you slept. Also our room we heard The Club music at night after 10pm.
- No hairdryer in room.
- Lighting in Stateroom wasn't very room, especially the bathroom and vanity mirror.
- Lack of menu options in the dining room. They cut out a lot of options.
- Rooftop Garden Grill was a huge disappointment. Steak quality was terrible.
- Dinner food in the restaurants were very lackluster.
- Room was very loud at times with creaking, especially during rougher waves.
- Room read 67 degrees, felt about 10 degrees warmer.
DECK 2
Medical Center
We’re starting our tour at the Medical Center, it's not the first place we want to ever be, but at least we all know now where it is. Any issues come here. Also will add make sure you have travel insurance. We're not big for pushing it, since we didn't for about 40 cruises, but now we have our own plan which costs about the same as one cruise for the entire year. Check it out. It has actually helped us in the past a lot on a land trip.
Destination Gangway
Welcome to Destination Gangway. This is going to be the location you get on and off the ship at any of the ports of call. The Magic Carpet also will come down during any tender ports, during our trip we did not have any, so we never got to experience that part. We will also add that the process of getting on and off the ship in this area was very smooth and easy. Never felt any type of congestion. This is one of the best areas to get on and off the ship across the lines we’ve been on.
The
Basement
This
venue is specifically for teens.
DECK 3
Camp
at Sea
This venue is specifically for younger children.
Grand
Plaza & Martini Bar ($$$)
The
main hub of the ship is the Grand Plaza. This area was a bit different than
what we had on Apex. We like this design a bit better, felt more open and
easier to get up and down the different levels. We often came here to see some
live musical performances. The Martini show we did not see advertised and
really didn’t see if throughout the cruise. Not 100% sure if it’s still a thing
for not.
Guest
Relations & iLounge
If
you’re having any issues on board this is where you can come to get some help.
The staff we encountered we’re very helpful with resolving any issues we had.
Tuscan Restaurant (Complimentary)
Here is your first of 4 restaurants that you can dine in during your cruise, the Tuscan Restaurant, which offers your Italian-inspired meals. All four (Tuscan, Normandie, Cyprus & Cosmopolitan) are all free for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We did not need reservations and could go whenever we wanted. There may be a wait, so keep that in mind. As far as which to dine in and when, really makes no difference since you can order anything you want from any of the restaurants. If you had a dish in Cyprus you liked, you can have that in Tuscan if you want. If was great. Each dining room has its own part of the menu that does not change every night, as well as a menu that all restaurants have that does change everyday. Service in all of the dining rooms was great, and very, very consistent. Overall pleased.
ST MAARTEN DINNER
Normandie
Restaurant (Complimentary)
Across
the way from the Tuscan Restaurant is Normandie, which is their French-inspired
dining venue.
Phyllo
Dough Tulip - This was fine, nothing outstanding. 7/10
WINE TASTING (Select Tier Guests)
We ended up drinking several more glasses, even taking others since they setup for about double of who actually showed up.The
Theatre (Decks 3 to 5)
As
we head up a deck we come to The Theatre, which has entrances on both deck 4
and deck 5 on both sides. Now the Theatre will open about 30 to 40 minutes
prior to showtime, and lines will form up to an hour before showtime, so keep
that in mind. Most shows filled up very quickly once doors opened. Most shows
in the evening (production and specialty) had 2 shows. No shows were repeated
on other days during the cruise. Felt the seats were comfortable and there
really wasn’t a bad seat in the house. Also, every night the Captain sat in the
Theatre to watch whatever show was going on. We got three amazing production
shows, several comedy and magical shows and some other singing shows. We saw
most of them. Everything was solid across the board. Very enjoyable.
Helpful
Tip: If you’re wanting a seat close, make sure to get here about 45 minutes
prior to showtime.
The
Meeting Place
We
only came here once early in the cruise for a drawing class with artist Lexi.
We learned how to draw a boat, more importantly, how to shade when drawing. We
only did one of the classes, which tended to be around the 4 o’clock timeframe
on most of the days we had. Felt this was a great addition to the daily
activities, however we didn’t attend as many as we’d like to since during that
timeframe we’re generally in the room getting ready for dinner. However it was
a great concept for those looking for something fun to do.
The
Club (Decks 4 & 5)
Speaking
of fun things to do, The Club has countless things to do most of the day
including Bingo and tons of different game shows. We took part in many of them
during our trip and it was a highlight of our cruise. This is what made
Celebrity stand out for us. Always a different game being played just about
every single day. Generally at night, which was a conflict at times, since it
was hard being 2 places at once, so we often had to give up something in the
Theatre or Eden to come here, or vice versa. Other than games, the cast of Eden
did a Jazz show here on two of the nights of the cruise. We’re not big fans of
jazz music, but this show was incredible. Loved it so much! There is also a bar
here, so you can grab drinks before, during and after most events. Great bar
team here.
Helpful
Tip: Get involved in as much as you can. All the games were so much fun!
Anne Martinez (Performance)
We originally saw Anne Martinez on Apex and she was great. Really enjoyed her show on Beyond as well.
Archery at the Club (Activity)
Jazz Joint at The Club (Production Show)
Majority Rules (Adult's Only Game Show)
This was adults only and got pretty raunchy. You grab a packet of papers which has your group number and that is what you're right your answers on, total of 10 pages for the 10 questions. This was hosted by our cruise director Darren and the entertainment team. This was a lot of fun. Very adult themed. Think of the quest on Royal Caribbean without actually having to do the quest things. More of right your answers on the paper and bring it to the front. Most popular answer wins. That's it. The weird part of this, because of the age bracket of the ship, which was 60s to 90s for the most part, a lot of people were sitting with other people, totally fine with that. However when you're writing things like this for the game and then people in their 70s asking what are you writing, it made it feel slightly weird.
Majority Rules (Family Friendly Game Show)
This was the family friendly version, still a lot of fun.
Pitfall (Game Show)
One of our favorite games to play.
That's A Match (Game Show)
This is where two teams must match names or things to one another in a category. I was able to get on the show, our team made it to the final round and it came down to the last match which the category was tv couples. I screwed up the last one which if we got right we would have one. It was so much fun.
The Buddy System (Game Show)
The Whisper Challenge (Game Show)
This is where two people go up and one has head phones on their head do they can't hear anything and the other has to give them a phrase to try and say. We went up, so much fun.
The Celebrity Shops (Logo Shop, Liquor Store & Fragrance Store)
There
are several different shops around the ship. Here you will find a liquor store
that you can purchase liquor (which they will hold until the end of the
cruise), as well as some snacks and chips. We did notice pricing wasn’t too
much different than near our home. Next to that was their logo store, where
you’ll find ship models and lots of different types of clothing options.
Finally at the end is their perfume store, you’ll also find cologne and makeup
products here as well.
Helpful
Tip: If you see something you want, get it! If you wait, it may be gone by
the time you go back for it.
Future
Cruise Vacations
As
we continue to head towards the back of the ship we come to the Future Cruise
Vacations area, this was generally always busy. Our sailing had a lot of repeat
Celebrity cruisers and many were eager to book their next cruise here. Out of
all of the cruises we’ve been on, we’ve never once booked on the ship. Let us
know in the comments below, is it worth doing? Are there any benefits to doing
this?
Photo
Studio
This
location will be if you’re looking to do professional photography sessions.
Shore
Excursions
If
you’re looking for a shore excursion at any one of the ports, or you had an
issue with one, this is where you can come to handle any of those needs. They
do have touch screens to help with booking any of them. We had an issue with
our St Lucia excursion and they took all the information we had and resolved it
very quickly.
Helpful
Tip: If you’re not wanting to do an excursion many places will have
excursions once you get on shore. We felt although it was much easier to use
the ship’s excursions, you will pay a little bit more, but that also does
ensure that if the tour runs past the all aboard time, they will take care of
everything. Going and doing an excursion on your own will be less money, but there is that chance
that if the tour runs late, the ship WILL NOT wait for you.
Another tip: Once at some of these ports, they will have the local terminal
area. Generally this is where the authorized tour operators will be. We highly
suggest using them, vs using ones that are standing outside the gated area. We
felt it was much easier and safer. Also negotiate pricing, even with the
authorized tour operators. Example in Antigua, near the entrance of the
terminal pricing for a island tour and beach stop was $35 per person, we kept
walking and the same tour operator company had it for $20 per person. We went
with the lower price and had an incredible time.
Photo
Gallery
Right
next door is the Photo Gallery. Here is where you can view & purchase any
of the photos you’ve taken during the cruise. Also they offer some camera
equipment that is available for purchase as well.
Café
al Bacio (Complimentary Snacks) ($ - Drinks)
If
you’re looking for some tasty snacks and a coffee, then this is where you can
come to get that. Multiple times a day they will change the glass showcase with
different options. Overall we felt they were good and a nice treat to go with
our afternoon coffee. Speaking of the coffee, overall we felt it was decent, a
bit pricy though and the price seemed to change up and down from one day to the
next, with no real explanation why. Was the coffee worth the $6 to $7, not
really. Keep in mind that does include a tip. Just felt the coffee was decent
at best and we were just as satisfied with the free options at the Oceanview
Café or dining room.
We're adding the days that we found items in the showcase, a lot are the same, but wanted to show day-to-day. Also some days have more pictures than others, that is because we went multiple times when they change out items.
Helpful
Tip: The Solarium Café offer’s free Americano coffee’s (both regular &
decaf).
Sea Day 1
Sea Day 2
St Lucia
Grenada
Le
Voyage by Daniel Boulud ($)
We’d
say the fanciest restaurant on board the Celebrity Beyond was Le Voyage, just
outside the main Grand Plaza area. Unlike the other restaurants, this is inside
two sets of doors, so you’ll be very less likely to hear any music coming from
that area. We were on the fence on trying this restaurant, mainly due to the
hefty price tag and that never usually working in our favor on a ship in the
past. We never heard many people coming here during our cruise, however prior
and online we heard nothing but good things. Let us know in the comments below,
have you tried it? What were your thoughts?
Le
Grand Bistro ($)
Our
next location is Le Grand Bistro. During the morning we noticed this venue was
dedicated to breakfast for certain tier passengers, while some days during
lunch this was open for an upcharge lunch option. Dinner time the venue turns
into Le Petite Chef, which is a unique dinner where your food basically comes
to life with video projections on your table. We originally had this booked,
but ended up switching this to another dinner instead. We heard it was good,
but the menu didn’t look too impressive. Also did change a lot and sometimes
did not match the projections. Also heard a lot of people say it was a one and
done type of restaurant. Have you tried this location for any meal? What did
you think?
Craft
Social Bar ($)
Right
in the Grand Plaza area is Craft Social Bar, here you will have a sports lounge
style bar. They also have a good selection of drinks and food options available
for an upcharge. We found ourselves here a bit just sitting in the comfy chairs
throughout some of the days, also noticed this was a very busy location during
most of the cruise, especially at night and on sea days.
The Casino ($)
I
was up a bit, my wife was down a bit, so I was therefore down a bit. I kept to
the same set of machines and was doing good for the most part. Then after it
was all said and done I ended up losing maybe $40 in total for the 10-nights.
My wife had loss more than that. People were winning a bit too, mainly on the
higher bet amounts.
I want to point out the free drinks in the casino when playing. This was every
day when the casino was opened. Now the problem, much like we had on Apex was
the actual bartenders. Basically, a needle in a haystack, even when it was just
you in the casino. They were usually nowhere to be found. One night we ordered
drinks and I kid you not, 30 minutes later and still no drinks, cannot find the
waitress anywhere, we find a manager and they ended up having another waiter
get them. Then the next day we kept looking and looking for the waiter for
drinks again and finally did. With a bit of a rushing attitude he got them for
us. Another day it was after dinner and we go, looking for them yet again and
this time I finally find a waiter (same one) and he said “what do you want”, I
told him 2 beers, to make it easy. He asked where I’d be, and I told him. Then
brings them a few minutes later and I said my wife was sitting right around the
corner and I went to point and before I did he said “You take them, I don’t have
time.”, then just walked away. I was like okay then. Don’t give me an attitude.
It’s not our fault that the line offers something and you’re the only one
working. Same exact issue on Apex. If you cannot keep up with the demand, then
stop it. Plain and simple. This was one of the only negative crew members we
came in contact with. Now I get it, I’d probably be pissed too if I was
assigned to just getting people drinks without any additional tipping, unlike a
regular bartender. But hey, that’s the job.
Helpful
Tip: If you’re looking for a drink, sit closer to the bar near the Casino
entrance by the Craft Social Bar, there is a small drink setup. This helped
slightly for us.
The Celebrity Shops (Jewerly)
Here
are some more of the shops around the ship.
Cyprus
Restaurant (Complimentary)
The
third main dining room option is the Cyprus Restaurant, specializing in Greek
cuisine.
SECOND SEA DAY DINNER
BARBADOS DINNER
Cosmopolitan
Restaurant (Complimentary)
The
final main dining room option is the Cosmopolitan Restaurant, specializing in
American cuisine.
GRENADA DINNER
ANTIGUA BREAKFAST
THIRD SEA DAY LUNCH
DECK 5
Captain’s
Club & Concierge
Up
a deck on 5 near the entrance to the upper level of The Theatre is the
Captain’s Club & Concierge. A very small room tucked away.
Art
Gallery
As
we start making our way to the back of the ship we get to the Art Gallery,
where you will find a lot of different pieces. Some cool items. They do offer
the art auctions throughout the cruise, so if that is something you’d be interested
in, then check your daily guide or speak to the staff for more information.
World
Class Bar ($)
Raw on 5 ($)
Raw
on 5 is the sushi restaurant on board. We dined here on one of the nights. Felt
the options we had were pretty good and if you’re in the mood for sushi it will
hit the spot. However, I felt some of the rolls and flavors were a bit
repetitive as far as what was inside most of them. When I generally get sushi,
I like it to have other things besides cucumber and salmon in it. Izumi on
Royal Caribbean is better when it comes to sushi in our opinion. They also have
other items on the menu as well. Overall this was a great choice again if
you’re in the mood for sushi.
Fine
Cut Steakhouse ($)
Right
across the way is the Fine Cut Steakhouse. We originally had this booked for
our first night, but switched to Eden, which worked out. However, we’ve heard a
lot of good things about this steakhouse. What we can say after eating steak
elsewhere, we weren’t too impressed with the options at most of the other
locations. Which I won’t hold against Fine Cut Steakhouse. One complaint
however many people had was the location of this restaurant. Most of the side
overlooks the Grand Plaza a few decks below, therefore you will hear all of the
music and noise throughout the dinner, which was part of the reason we
cancelled. It does get very loud, so if that is an issue just keep that in
mind. There is seating on the other side of the restaurant away from the side,
but isn’t too far away.
Boutique
Shops (Watch Shops)
Here
are some more of the shops on the ship.
Walkway
to Eden
I
somewhat get the concept of this but making it the primary walkway (the other
being the outside deck) to the back of the ship is a bit ridiculous and just
part of the ships bad design. Now considering the age frame of the ship was 60s
to 90s, with many people in walkers and scooters, this is not practical at all.
We kept hearing so many people complain about this section. Also what makes it
a bit more weird is the location, it’s supposed to be for Eden, however once
you get through it, you still have several other venues before you actually get
to Eden.
Chocolate
Shop ($)
A
new feature on Beyond is this little chocolate shop, specializing in expensive
chocolates and truffles. Looked like a cool concept until you saw the pricing.
Also never once saw anyone buying anything here. If you did, let us know below
in the comments and let us know how you liked it.
Blu
(AquaClass Guests Only)
Our
next restaurant is Blu, which is for AquaClass guests. Specializing in lighter
and healthier options. The restaurant has always been a favorite of ours to
look at over the years. We even thought to renew our vows here on
Constellation. One of these days I think we’ll just spend the extra money for
AquaClass to eat here.
Mankind
As
we continue we come to another one of the shops, Mankind. Which offers some
“fancy” luggage and pens and things like that.
Eden
We come to our final location here, Eden. This unique area spans 3 levels and is made up of a café, bar, restaurant and entertainment venue. They did offer a couple of shows during the cruise, however we were unable to attend due to either time of night (usually around 11pm) or we already had something else going on, which really sucked. So we highly recommend getting to these shows here when you see them available. Other than that this large area is used for one of the loyalty parties, which we were invited to along with numerous other things throughout the trip. This is also a great place to get away from the hustle of the rest of the ship. Tons of seating and nooks around the venue to relax and enjoy. Also there is a smoking section right outside of Eden, we did not get photos but we did record it on our Ultimate Ship Tour.
Silent Disco
We got here a bit early just to sit and relax. The area will always fill up quickly during any of these events, so get here early if you want good seats on the lower level. We stayed for a few minutes. Music was between the oldies and Latin. But they still had slow music in the background which was odd.
In
the mornings and afternoons this location will be opened. It is fairly limited,
so keep an eye on times in the daily guide. We made it a point to come here for
at least one meal, which was breakfast. Similar to Apex, this wasn’t anything
really to write home about. Felt the options were limited and basic, the
sandwich I had felt like eating one of those frozen breakfast sandwiches.
Wasn’t a fan at all. One thing they can do better is actually have this area
opened more during the day, change out the menu and have the drink station
available, which was a complaint of ours in general around the ship.
Eden
Bar ($)
As
we continue to explore Eden, in the middle is the bar, which was almost always
busy. We decided to get drinks here on the first night before our dinner at the
Eden Restaurant. The drinks in total were about $50, felt they were decent, but
not worth the hefty price tag. Also didn’t like that they don’t actually look
like the photos, which is mainly why we got them. Similar to our experience on
Carnival Mardi Gras at the Fortune Teller Bar.
Eden
Restaurant ($)
Our
final location is actually a deck below, you can take the stairs or elevator
down a level to the Eden Restaurant. This is where our first dinner was on the
Beyond. A bit of a gamble for us in all
honesty. If you remember our review of this restaurant on Apex, it wasn’t
pretty. It was probably the worst dining experience we’ve had on any of our
cruises. Now, why did we book this again after that terrible of an experience?
Well, we were on the fence for a while, but after so many people told us to try
it and how everyone loved it, we decided to give it another try. So glad we
did.
We
were seated near the windows, instead of the kitchen area. Our server was
Drajo, and he asked if we’ve been here before, so we told him of last time and
how we hope this time was different. He said he will do anything he can to make
sure that doesn’t happen again to us, if it does, let him know. So we were
handed the menu’s, they offer a tasting menu as well as the regular menu. Which
really was the same thing, just one is in courses, vs just ordering everything
you want. Drajo explained it to us in detail and asked what we like and didn’t
like. So we placed our options for the meal and he said keep the menu just
incase we want other items. He brought our the apps, which were phenomenal. The
Gnocchi dish was unlike any gnocchi dish we’ve ever had before, it was the star
of the meal, that good. All the other apps were really good as well. Entrées
came out next and also really good flavors. Dessert time came and more great
dishes. Will say this, was everything incredible? No, I’d say everything was
good to great. Everything was solid, nothing was terrible, more of things we
particularly don’t care for, but still was cooked perfectly. Service was
impeccable.
The
standout difference between our experience on Beyond and Apex was our waiter.
He took the time to explain the menu in detail and how the dinner would work.
Through each plate he would ask how we liked it, or didn’t like it. He would
bring out options based off our preference to try out as well. One thing that
was something we’ve never seen before, was when they were bringing out one of
the plates, another waitress (probably newer) put the plate on the table, he
quietly said something to her and she rotated the plate the correct way.
Something wouldn’t have even thought anything of, but the fact he took that 5
seconds and did that, was the icing on the cake with our professional and how
good Drajo was. Sorry we didn’t get a photo of him, but if you’re going, ask
for him.
All
and all, we highly recommend Eden at least once during your trip. Overall we
enjoyed our experience here, and I say experience and not dinner. To us you’re
not just coming here for a meal, you’re coming here for an experience like no
other.
Also
want to note, if you’re expecting to dine here and see a show, this isn’t going
to be possible, since you’re on a lower level than the actual performance area.
DECK
6
Stateroom
6135 – Panoramic Ocean View Stateroom
Next
deck up we come to our stateroom. We decided to try out the Panoramic Ocean
View Stateroom. We were located right in the front elevators, which made it
easy to get to places like The Theater & Solarium. Overall the room was
fairly spacious and enough for 10-nights. We were able to drop off our luggage
as soon as we boarded and then come back at 1:30pm once all cabins opened to
the public. Once we got in we quickly got to unpacking. Small thing on the
closest, the hangers, doesn’t sound like a big deal, but they had half wooden
ones and then the other half was a mix of whatever hangers, like people left
them from other cruises. So weird, and a bit off for Celebrity, but whatever
not that big of a deal. We got to unpacking half of our home into this cabin
for the next 10-nights. Everything fit fine, had to get creative and using our
magnetic hooks really helped out in some cases as always. The bathroom was a
decent size. We had a couch, desk and king bed, which was very comfortable.
Downside
to the room. First was lighting, felt it could have been much better. My wife
tried doing makeup on a few nights and it was very difficult for her to do
since lighting wasn’t the best. Another issue was the window, it’s
floor-to-ceiling and there is a switch that makes the blinds go up and down,
now you have very little room on the one side of the bed, causing you to hit it
everytime you got in and out of bed. Not a huge issue, but noticeable. Also at
night with our “obstructed” view of the lifeboats they would have the lights
on, so we’d have to shut the blinds at night. Other issues also included the
temperature of the room, we kept setting it to 67 degrees (max it will go
down), felt it was closer to 76 degrees. It wasn’t terrible, but you did notice
it at points here and there, especially with the window open. However besides
all of that, the one main issue with this cabin was the actual construction of
the cabins on the Beyond. We’ve heard some are just very loud and creaky at
night especially because of the waves hitting the ship. The first two nights as
we headed to St. Maarten it was very rocky all day and all night throughout the
entire ship, some of the worst we’ve had, not so much the motion, but the
length of time it was. This made our room very loud, especially when we were
trying to sleep and all we heard was the banging and creaking of the room. Even
with ear plugs (free at guest services) we had issues sleeping. Luckily that
only lasted 2 nights and the rest of the trip was fine.
The
best part of our room was our stateroom attendant Andri, who had just gotten
back on board with our sailing. He was one of the nicest people we’ve
encountered on the ship. Always around and always asked us if we needed
anything at all. Great to chat with. Also loved that he did something that you
don’t really see too often anymore, actually greeted us by our names, each and
every time. Which again you don’t come across too often anymore.
Overall
the room location was really good, we did hear some noise from The Club at
night, but nothing too much.
DECKS
6 – 12
Passenger
Staterooms
The
next sets of decks are where you’ll find more staterooms.
DECK
14
The
Spa ($)
We
now head up to deck 14 to The Spa. On embarkation day they offer free tours,
letting you check out the spa and learn about the different rooms and things
they offer. I ended up coming here then to do a short video tour, which you can
check out on our YouTube channel. Nothing crazy, but a short tour to see how it
looks.
Solarium (Adult's Only)
As
we make our way to the back of the ship and past the forward elevators and the
sliding door we come right into the Solarium. This area is meant for adults
only and is a great way to escape the direct sunlight you’ll get on the pool
deck. Every morning there were people already up and here, either relaxing
poolside with their breakfast and coffee, or even swimming in the pool. We
didn’t notice the Solarium ever being too crowded during the day, night time
was very much on the empty side. We did swim one of the nights after dinner and
it was great, so relaxing.
The
Spa Café & Juice Bar (Complimentary Snacks) ($ - Drinks)
Right
off to the side of the Solarium is the Spa Café. Here they have some light food
options as well as upcharge juices and smoothies. A bit of a tip, if you’re a
Americano coffee drinker, they do have a machine here that you can get regular
or decaf, totally free. I want to say on Apex they had more options, but on
Beyond it was just the Americano. Keep in mind this café isn’t open much during
the day, so keep an eye on the daily guide for hours.
Mast
Grill (Complimentary)
The
Solarium has exit/entrance ways on both sides, we’re taking the one to the
left, which will lead you right into the Mast Grill. Here you will find your
grilled items such as hotdogs and hamburgers, as well as a few other items.
Note they are usually only opened for lunch, if you’re looking for hotdogs and
hamburgers for dinner, that will be at the Oceanview Café. Also Mast Grill is
the only place at lunch to get burgers and dogs. They also have a ice cream
machine here.
Main Pool Area & Pool Bar ($)
Our
next area is the main pool deck. Here you will find one of the longest pools on
any cruise ship as well as a bar and plenty of deck space. Now for the actual
chairs, well since there is a lot of deck space, which is taken up by large
couch sections, an open deck area in front of the bar and the cabanas, which
doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for actual lounge chairs. With that said we
noticed, especially on sea days, by 6am every chair was taken. A good amount of
people who were sitting there were just sitting and reading, some relaxing,
some empty seats with just towels, but everything taken. Again having less
space for chairs is part of the problem. The staff does not do anything to help
the situation by removing anything either.
Onto
the actual pool, temps were great. We didn’t spend as much time here as we’d
wanted to, but the time we did was very nice. They offered a lot of different
activities here throughout the trip as well as their new concept The Poolest
Day Ever, which we will talk about below.
Poolest Day at Sea (Final Sea Day)
Beyond
Cabanas (Ranging from $225 to $500 per day)
If
you’re looking to rent a cabana for the day, you can also do this before you
set sail. They are very pricy. Location of these are steps away from the pool.
On APEX they were facing the Magic Carpet, and you would have to walk all the
way around to get to the pool. On Beyond they designed it much better, giving
you easier access to the pool.
Magic
Carpet ($) (Deck 14)
The
Magic Carpet is another bar with some amazing views. This was generally on deck
14 for a majority of the cruise. You can either grab a drink, watch the sunset
(if the ship is positioned right) or just sit and relax. Never felt this area was
too crowded.
Scoops
(Complimentary)
Now
we head inside the ship to our next location, Scoops. This is where you can get
free scoops of ice cream. The flavors will change a bit throughout the cruise,
so make sure to check it out. They also give you some options for toppings. A
bit of a tip, if you want whipped cream, Il Secondo Bacio is right across and
they can give you some of that whipped cream and a cherry to top of your ice
cream. Also want to mention this isn’t that typical crystalized ice cream most
of the ships have, this is actually good. Now it is not open all the time, they
do have hours, which we felt was opened more than it was closed. Worth a try!
Il
Secondo Bacio ($)
The
ship offers two locations to get your morning (or afternoon) coffee. This
location is in the Oceanview Café. They do not offer any treats, but those you
can get right at the buffet.
Oceanview
Café (Complimentary)
We
come to the buffet on the ship. We came here a lot during the cruise just to
check out the different options they have throughout the trip. Now a tip, this
place gets very, very busy during the peak hours, especially during the sea day
at lunch. Breakfast can get busy, dinner being not as busy. But during those
busy times, seating can get very limited and in some cases impossible inside the
Oceanview Café. So we suggest grabbing a table first, or grabbing some plates
of food and heading somewhere less chaotic around the ship to enjoy your meal.
We felt they did offer a good selection of options with theming for lunch and
dinner changing daily.
Best mac and cheese ever!
Easter Buffet Setup
Buffet Sample (St Maarten)
Pizza
(Complimentary)
To
the back of the Oceanview Café you’ll come to the pizza section. Now, this unfortunately
reminded me of Carnival with it’s terrible standards and service. The pizza was
generally always burned and overdone. Times it was iced cold and sitting there
for a very long time. Other times no pizza or calzones. The entire process of
even how they cooked was just ridiculous. They usually had between 2 and 4
people and yet sometimes no food. When we did get something again, burned and
just lacked flavor. You can skip this.
Oceanview
Bar ($)
Here
is one of the most hidden bars on the ship. All the way in the back, across from
the pizza. Generally, a quieter area of the Oceanview Café, when it’s not busy.
We never had drinks here, but this was sometimes busy with people here and
there.
DECK
15
The
Fitness Center
We
head to the place where I know we won’t see most of you, but we’re showing you
anyways! Will say this is a very nice-looking gym with a ton of space and machines.
They also offer classes, I think for an extra fee.
The Retreat Lounge (Suite Guests Only)
If you have access to the Retreat Lounge, this will be up on deck 15. You won’t have to worry about the hustle of the rest of the ship in this quiet and calm area. Truly a ship within a ship.
Smoking Area
We found 3 smoking areas around the ship, one outside Eden, the second near the Sunset Bar, which we will show you shortly and here on deck 15, tucked away above the pool bar. Really nicely setup, have to say they really put thought into these areas since they are some of the nicest at sea. Keep in mind, there are two of these identical areas on each side of the deck, one is smoking, while the other is not.
Side Pools (Near Rooftop Garden)
We
now head back towards the Rooftop Garden to check out the new addition to the
Edge class ships, which are these two pools. Now we did get to briefly enjoy
these, but not nearly as much as we’d like. They have a seating area over here
as well which is great. Really good addition.
Rooftop
Garden
The
Rooftop Garden offers a lot of different things throughout the cruise, one being
Pickleball, now we did see this as a free and pay option, so not sure if it
just depends on skill levels or something else. They did offer it a lot since they
have an official, non-official court to play on. Other than that they offer some
relaxing seating areas around. We always enjoyed this area a lot.
Rooftop
Garden Grill ($)
We
had this booked for the last night of our cruise. We came here for dinner as
the sun was still out, but probably 40 minutes or so away from sunset. We got
here and stood at the front, no one in sight to seat us, a few moments later
here comes someone to seat us. We head to our table. Most of the seats here faced
the sun, now this depends on time of day and where the sunset is, so keep that
in mind. Our table, it faced me, but wasn’t terrible. We then looked over the
menu and it didn’t really say what we could and could not get. So after waiting
about 5 mintues or so someone came to our table and we asked. He said, anything
you want. Then he just walked away. Okay. Then we looked it over some more and
planned out what we were getting. Then another waiter comes and says you get
one appetizer, one entrée and one dessert. So we then decided to just order. The
service so far wasn’t impressive at all. After a bit our appetizers came out,
and I’ll go through them below. Average at best. Then our entrees came out,
terrible. Again I’ll go through them below. But overall dinner wasn’t worth it.
Basic, underwhelming food and very cheap quality of meats. We ended up just talking
to a manager and having him refund us and we headed down to the Oceanview Café to
eat dinner. You win some, you lose some. It’s not always got to be a hit. Tonight
was far from it.
Sunset Bar ($) & Smoking Area
One
of the most beautiful spots on the ship was the Sunset Bar. They offer a lot of
seating and there is a smoking area near by (not at the bar). But the beauty of
this bar is when you’re sitting there in the shaded areas with the incredible
views that changed everyday. We loved it. Spent hours here. One of our favorite
locations on the ship.
DECK
16
Luminae
at the Retreat (Suite Guests Only)
The Retreat Sundeck & Bar (Suite Guests Only) (Decks 16 & 17)
This area I ended up checking out and it was beautiful. Really makes us think to try this area out on a future cruise. Between the lounge, bar and pool area it had it all in this ship within a ship concept.
PORTS OF CALL
Wyndham Hotel
After a long 4 and a half drive down from Orlando we make it to the hotel. Its located right on US1. We pulled up and headed right into the parking garage. It was a bit tight in areas when trying to go up and down levels, but not too terrible. Once we parked we headed in and checked in. The hotel for the night was $192.22. Was it worth it? We'll get to that.
Once we checked in we headed to the elevator, one complaint we've seen was one of them was done, we saw this on numerous reviews for a while now and we're happy to tell you that it's still the case. Luckily they do have one that works, just takes a while.
Our room was a king room, overall it was fine for a night's stay. The room was just big enough. Felt they could have kept it a bit cleaner overall.
Our nights sleep was a bit sleepless. Mixture of the loud street and maybe just being too lazy to get out of bed to turn down the A/C.
Overall comparing this to our last cruise hotel stay at Le Meridian we'd have to say it was a big difference across the board. For $200 a night we didn't feel it was worth it in our opinion. For $60 more we could have went there and I think it would have been worth it.
For dinner we headed to Jaxson's which is a famous spot in the area. It was different, but a bit on the dirty side, mainly because it's geared towards kids and they offer free popcorn and that gets everywhere. We just went with ice cream and a combo appetizer. Overall not a fan of anything. The appetizer had fries, mozzarella sticks and onion rings. You can tell the oil hasn't been cleaned in awhile. The ice cream was okay, nothing amazing. It was a one and done for us.
From our hotel it was than a 15 minute drive to Port Everglades. Super easy. You have to show idea when driving into the port, so keep that in mind. As well as a boarding pass showing your ship and sail date. Once we parked in the garage we had a little bit of a walk to our terminal building entrance. From then we walked right in and upstairs to security. No lines at all. Then we head to sit and wait for the ship to start boarding. Many questions we got prior was do they enforce boarding times? The answer is no, not at least during our sailing. We never once asked. We were already seated and waiting by 10:30am, boarding time is 11:30am. Boarding started around 10:45am. We were on the ship at 11:10am and went right to our room to drop off our luggage and done with muster in no time.
Fast forward to the final morning of the cruise. Self-assist heads to Eden to drop off their luggage in the Eden Cafe and wait to be cleared by customs to get off the ship. We were there maybe 20 minutes or so, not long. Few issues, one was once we were cleared the crew told everyone to go to their luggage and head off in line, well that didn't happen. It was a bit of a pain, but not the end of the world. Crew didn't plan this part out to well.
Next issue, for some reason always an issue at Port Everglades with disembarking any ship, today was no different. Now the elevators were down and we had to take the stairs if we had luggage vs the escalator. The port crew was very rude and basically arguing with them since we were going to take the escalator since they said no one could use it for no reason other than safety since we had luggage. I said we'll take our chances and went as the guy was talking crap as we were walking by. Everytime with this port, always something. This is why we hate coming here honestly.
St Maarten
We've been to St Maarten several times and always enjoyed it. This trip we had no plans to do anything but just walk around, get video and enjoy some time. Our main reason was because we had several ports lined up that we had beach days and didn't want to burn ourselves out too quick. Well, I will say we should have taken advantage of a beach day here. It was empty for the most part, beautiful weather and clear skies.
We headed down to Destination Gangway to get off the ship. We were 2 of the 20 people who had already gotten off. Pretty much a ghost town. After 30 to 40 minutes of walking around the port area we headed to the water taxi with 13 people in total including us. It was $7 per person and that includes a wristband for a round-trip ride. Ride only takes about 5 minutes and runs every 10 to 20 minutes.
Once you arrive you get dropped off at the pier and you can left or right or into town. We headed left to check it out and mainly consisted of beachfront bars and vendors selling chairs and umbrellas. After a bit we went to the other side of the pier, same thing there. We like this side better, seems nicer overall. There are also a few hotels with pools that you can get passes to as well. We roamed around and found this little French Bakery to the right of the Blue Bitch Bar that we saw they offered free wifi. We then used it for a bit and headed back to the ship. We knew this wasn't going to be an all day port for us, which was fine. Mainly wanted to get out and video it more than anything.
St Lucia
DESTINATION HIGHTLIGHT: WEST SIDE TREASURES BY CATAMARAN
We started off in the theater to check in and get our group number. Then waited a bit until they called our group to get off the ship and find our number on the pier. Once we met with our tour guide we signed a waiver and headed to the catamaran. We all boarded and we were on our way.
We headed out and headed northwest, sailing for about 40 minutes to Pigeon Island and a chance to see Martinique from a very far distance. Then we headed back towards where we came from, passing by the port once again and now heading to the other part of the island. Along the way they pointed out things here and there, we also got a chance to see a humpback whale. Shortly after we came to our snorkel stop, they warned us that locals would come up to our boat and while we'd snorkel and ask us if they wanted to pull them on ropes from their kayaks. Then they would say one price then double it afterwards. Yeah it sounds ridiculous. But the locals did come out of nowhere and hound everyone on and off the boat. Even when people were trying to snorkel they would be right on top of them, which was very unsafe. Which didn't make anyone feel too comfortable. We were supposed to be there for 45 minutes and we're only there for 30 minutes. Also not to mention it was very rocky, and a lot of people stayed on since it was too much.
Once we left we continued towards the Pitons and we were supposed to go to Soufriere Beach and swim there, but it was apparently too rocky and we couldn't so we just stopped in the water several miles away to swim in the ocean there. Less rocky, but no one wanted to do this so very few people got off. We get the weather plays a role, but I think it was they just didn't want to go that far into the area since we running low on time.
It was time to head back, so they brought out the rum punch and music. Got to see more whales on the way back during the hour plus ride. Finally back at Port.
We'd like to mention that this excursion does serve lunch onboard the boat which includes, chicken, fish, rice and lo mein. Also bathrooms are available on the boat, but you have to go down very tight stairs into this tiny room, making it hard to move if you have to sit there and use it. Also they did not have any running water to wash your hands after. They sprayed your hands afterwards.
We did not go to Soufriere Beach as I already mentioned. Also did not go to Anse Cochon, which was the snorkeling bay. We did go to Marigot Bay, kind of. More of driving near it, stopping far away and leaving.
Overall we did not fully enjoy the cruise. Weather did play a part of that. Other part was the length of time, the excursion was very long, but some of the stops didn't make sense to even do since we either saw things from miles and miles away in the very far distance and not even stopping at many places we were supposed to.
So was this worth it for us? No. Ultimately we booked this cruise for St Lucia, this is a place my wife has always wanted to come to. We had good moments on this excursion such as the Pitons and getting to see some resorts we've been looking to stay in such as Sandals La Toc and Jade Mountain. But with the pointless time wasted and issues with locals and of course the weather, we felt this was a missed opportunity for a even better day. We live and we learn.
Grenada
We got off and headed down the pier into the welcome center/mall. We walked in and one of the first vendors we came across was a train ride through the city. More of a multi-car trolley. It was $15 per person for 45 minutes. We decided to hop on the train that was leaving in 3 minutes. We hopped on the back car and started our journey. It was a really fun way to see different areas of the port. Highly recommend if you're looking to do something that isn't a beach and won't take up much time.
If you're looking for a beach you can always take the boat from the dock to Grand Anse Beach. Boat ride is $15 per person round trip and free at the beach. It was originally on our list, but weather didn't look the greatest at that point in time. Later in the day it did become beautiful out.
Once we were done with our trolley ride we headed back into the mall area and got a shot glass and headed back onto the ship.
Barbados
DESTINATION HIGHLIGHT: BEACH BREAK
We started again in the theater to get our stickers. Next was to wait for our number to be called and then headed off the ship. We walked down the pier and into the terminal building and through to our bus. We then all got on and about 20 minutes later we arrived to Harbour Lights.
First, I do want to say The Boatyard, Copacabana Beach Club and a few others are right next to one another in this strip. We then got off and was told we had a few hours and to be back at a set time. We walked in and the staff member explained what amenities they had and to get our welcome drink and head to our reserved chairs on the beach.
We settled in and got ready to jump into the beautiful water. It was about $40 per person and it includes a shared umbrella and a longer chair. The front row was reserved for other people, but we had the second row back, which was great.
They have a bar, as well as a place to get food for an extra charge. As well as bathrooms and showers if needed. We did see some games you could play as well, really nicely setup area. They also offer swimming with turtles for $25 per person and jet ski rentals. You'll come across a bunch of people asking if you want to do them, just say no. Most won't ask again later on if they see you. Never once did they get pushy. There was also a giftshop style shop right outside the main lobby. Some locals would walk the beach trying to sell their things, again nothing too crazy at all.
The water looked beautiful and was the perfect temperature. Reminded us of the stunning waters of Half Moon Cay, which is our favorite beach. This was right there. Stunning.
I did walk over to the Copacabana Beach Club to check it out, personally glad we went where we did, it just didn't look too nice from what I saw. Can't say anything about The Boatyard since I did not walk over there.
Overall we had an incredible day. Water was great, not too many waves, weather was perfect. Highly recommend this place!
Time to head back, our original driver wasn't there, so they had another driver take us back. Not a big deal, they said they run other jobs and this is normal for them.
Originally we had an excursion booked, but weather didn't show today being nice so we canceled and decided to just get off and see what we find.
We started walking down the main street and saw a ton of vendors in yellow shirts and came across one of their stands. We walked over and asked about their tour. It was about 2 to 3 hours for $35 per person. It was a tour around part of the island and hitting up the beach, there we can stay and they would come back later on or we can continue around the island stopping at some highlights around the way. So we said we will think about it. We kept walking and more people in yellow shirts would ask us to take a tour, we kept saying no thank you, until we got near the end and one more came up to us, same tour and it was for $20 per person. So we said yes, we waited to the side for others to join. Our driver was trying to get more people for the trip. We waited about 20 minutes or so, in between that several non-authroized vendors approached us saying they would take us for less. Then local security would chase them away. A little bit later we got about 8 more people and we headed to the bus.
Our tour guide today was with Sambe Christopher, who's been doing this for several years. He brought us around to different points around the island and telling us interesting facts about Antigua as well as other things throughout the tour. We stopped off at a church, a few lookouts and a couple of other places before getting to the beach spot. There we got off and took some photos of the beach area, which was beautiful. You have the option to stay and arrange a time for the driver to come back, which some people did do. After the beach we headed back towards the ship. The tour took about 2.5 hours and was a great way to see the island if you're not sure what to do. For only $20 per person, which you pay at the end of the tour, this is a great value and we highly recommend. Also keep a lookout for Sambe, highly recommend using him. Tell him Cruise Addict Junkie sent you.
Thank you for checking out our tour of the Celebrity Beyond. Also make sure to check out our YouTube channel and subscribe, really does help out the channel, and best of all it’s completely free to do!
Very nicely done....I will be sailing the Beyond soon and you offered some appreciated tips!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, happy to have helped!
DeleteThank you. This has been the best non-bias post about Celebrity cruises I've viewed. Very professionally presented 👏👏
ReplyDeleteThank you for that!
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