I’m sailing on the Celebrity Beyond on July 19th. It’s a 7 day cruise with three sea day. Is it possible to buy wifi for just the three sea days? We have a good Caribbean land package that we can use at port.
I have about 30 days for our cruise and I’m wondering if the cruise stays close enough to the main land to stay connected to a Pocket WiFi? TIA!
Hi everyone, I'm sailing on the Reflection soon and I always love grabbing any daily puzzles like crosswords and sudoku to work through during the day. Does the Reflection have any sort of library or pickup spot for these? Thank you!
We cruised June 15-26 on the Ascent and I thought I’d leave my thoughts here.
Background: for the last few years, we’ve done 2 cruises a year, mostly Disney, mostly out of Florida. Did Princess in Alaska 3 years ago, and 8 nights on the Reflection for spring break a couple years ago. Really liked celebrity besides not having self service laundry rooms/ironing. We tried to book Princess for this cruise but they were mostly sold out when I started looking a year ago so we went with Celebrity. Liked the itinerary, length, and price compared to Disney and have had very poor service and food on Disney for recent cruises.
Pre cruise: We did 4 nights in Paris and 4 nights in Rome before the cruise. Two teens, ages 16 and 17 who had never been to Europe before. I’ve been to a few places in Europe, mostly in college, never Italy.
Unfortunately the airline lost our luggage and it never was reunited with us so that was stressful.
Paris was wonderful for us- we were there in between heat waves and temps were mainly in the low to mid 60s for our time there, which was plenty warm enough for us. Every area we went to was charming and lovely. I wish we could have spent an extra day or two… would I have enjoyed Paris in the triple digit temps? Probably not. Our time there was perfect though. We did a day at Disney for the kids which was fine, it was our worst weather day and I was on the phone with the airline most of the day trying to figure out where our luggage was so that made it less enjoyable.
We flew Wizz Air to Rome via Orly. Everything about that was a bit of a clusterfuck. I thought Orly would be better than CDG but it was very chaotic and confusing for us.
We stayed in Testaccio in Rome. We liked the neighborhood we were in and found local shops to frequent for breakfast/pastries and coffee and basic needs. We mainly used Ubers to get to the touristy areas, though they weren’t terribly far.
Rome was definitely warmer than Paris, but not unbearably hot. Highs during the day in the upper 80s, cooler and comfortable at night. Again, I feel like we lucked out with weather.
I was honestly dreading Rome- I’d never been so was worried about being unfamiliar, and just thought it was going to be hot and crowded everywhere. Again, I was pleasantly surprised. I never found anything terribly crowded… we didn’t have to wait in lines at the Vatican museums or the Colosseum, and we really enjoyed just wandering around the city, especially at night.
We spent one day taking a day trip to Ponza which was a great way to escape the heat and the people. We did a 5 hour boat ride around the island with multiple stops to jump off and swim and explore caves.
We also did a pizza cooking class in Rome which was really great- my kids weren't excited for it but it wound up being one of their favorite things we did.
I booked a car to take us to the port- originally I planned on taking the train but just decided to avoid the hassle. Every car ride I booked showed up on time, before and after the cruise. I wasn’t sure how reliable these services would be, given the fact that you don’t prepay, but they all showed up and were very good with communicating and confirming.
We were all squeezed into a standard room with an infinite verandah. I was really on a budget and couldn’t swing a suite or two rooms… I was very worried about us being in such tight quarters but we made it work. However… compared to other ships I’ve been on in similar sized cabins… I do think they could provide more storage space. There could be shelves and/or cabinets above the desk and bed. It just felt like for 11 days we had very few places to put things, especially for 4 of us. I feel like there was more storage on the Reflection.
My kids really didn’t go to the teen club- we were kind of busy with it being such a port intensive cruise and we were trying not to be out too late on the ship so we weren’t overtired on our excursions. There were, in my opinion, a lot of kids on this sailing of all ages. Babies, young kids, teens. Lots of people say celebrity isn’t for kids but plenty of kids on this cruise.
The service was wonderful. We went to the MDRs most nights. I had reservations each night for different ones, but after dining in all 4, we went back to Normandie for the remaining nights because we really enjoyed our server there and they always made sure to seat us with him. (We also did one night at Le petit chef which my kids really enjoy but the food and service was also excellent).
I booked our own excursions (mostly on viator or TripAdvisor) everywhere but in Istanbul. In Istanbul we did the night tour the first night- which my kids loved because of all the cats they found- and then the boat ride and bazaar the following day- which my kids didn’t enjoy except they found more cats. I’d skip the bazaar unless you really want to go there. Even our tour guide was telling us how terrible and tourist trappy it was before they dumped us off there.
In Chania, I booked a paddle boarding tour which wound up just being our family and it was wonderful- sup n blue with Socrates. Only issue is he was super laid back and we went over the time and I was worried about getting back to the ship on time (I always want to get back with plenty of time when we do our own thing) so I was a little stressed towards the end but otherwise it was an amazing experience.
We hired a private guide in kusadasi for Ephesus which was wonderful, but then they bring you to a rug making business and sort of trap you in the showroom with a salesman who throws dozens of rugs in front of you trying to make a sale. They’re beautiful to see but it does feel like a lot of pressure and slightly uncomfortable. Overall though we enjoyed kusadasi and really loved Ephesus…. Again my kids esp loved the cats.
Our Santorini and Mykonos days were swapped with less than a day’s notice. I had private tours scheduled in both and lucky for us, our tours were able to accommodate us on the new days. I’ve heard horror stories about how crowded Santorini can be but we didn’t have issues with cable car lines and our tour guide seemed to take us places that weren’t too crowded.
I originally booked a private guide for our Naples stop to take us around the Amalfi coast but my husband really wanted me to add Pompeii… so I switched us to a group tour that included it. It was fine but Pompeii was very hot and my kids were not as impressed with it- I kind of wish we’d kept our private tour guide and stuck to the amalfi coast but again, it was fine.
Generally, booking the tours on our own saved me lots of money and were more personal, and they were all very good about the ship’s timing. I never had a problem finding the guides which I was also worried about.
We had a 3pm flight out of FCO so no rush to get off the ship, and I never encountered any lines for the customs entry or exit which made me feel like I’d done something wrong.
Overall this was a wonderful trip for our family- I was worried 3 weeks together would be too much but we were very sad when it was all over.
Hi all, Just booked our first cruise with Celebrity! It seems like the wi-fi and drinks packages are outrageous (even with the discounts) so I don't want to pay for them. Are there others that do not pay for drink and wi-fi packages, or is this uncommon?
I have ATT and I am planning on doing the $20/day cruise pass which includes at sea and on land, up to 500MB per day then if you exceed this, speeds are reduced to 512Kbps for the remainder of the 24 hours. We are wanting to unplug and not be glued to our devices on this trip, so I am hoping that this will be enough internet for our purposes. Does this plan seem reasonable?
My partner and I don't drink very much so also planning on just paying a la carte for drinks. We will order 2 espresso drinks per day each, and may order a case of water. So I also don't see the non-alc package being worth it.
I am thinking of getting a dinner package for 3 nights- is this needed to be able to go to the non-included restaurants?
Appreciate any feedback or thoughts, thanks!!
edit: I am absolutely loving all of the answers, opinions, and tips! you all are awesome
Hi! We are leaving on the Reflection this coming Monday, our flight out of FLL on Friday is leaving on 11:15 am. Would the shuttle be a good idea? Or ubering would be better?
Thanks!
We booked through Costco and it included basic WiFi and classic drink package. How do we show the bartenders that we ordered the drink package since it isn’t easily showing up on our celebrity app? First time cruiser.
Recently disembarked from a 7-night Celebrity Xcel sailing — Barcelona to Athens, with stops in Malta, Kusadasi/Ephesus, Mykonos, and Santorini. This was actually our second time on the Xcel — we did the preview sailing back in November, so it was interesting seeing how things have settled in since then.
Also our first time booking a Sky Suite outright (previously won one through a Move Up bid on the Apex), so happy to compare that too.
Some quick hits: ate way too much at Fine Cut Steakhouse (liked it more this time compared with a year ago on the apex), Bora for both brunch and dinner was great, visited IYKYK way more this time than we did on the preview sailing & enjoyed it more too, and have “opinions” on all the ports, including a somewhat bummer of a visit to Malta, though it was partially colored by the excursion we took.
Also happy to talk Retreat perks, excursions, ports, embarkation logistics, preview vs. now comparisons, or just answer whatever.
Ask away!
>Ending the “live” part of the AMA but will still answer any questions folks have, though maybe a bit more slowly. Thanks for all the questions!!!!
I have the basic drinks package and it really feels like everything decent is even just $2 over the $12 limit. It’s pretty frustrating tbh.
Is there a place I can go and just have a few glasses of different types of wine that are all included? Most places don’t even put the $12 glasses on the menu so I’d have to just be like bring me a glass of (whatever) that fits within the limit. I’m having a real bummer of a trip and I need to feel like a fancy adult for a night.
Is it normally open for passengers? We are concierge class
I want to preface this review by saying that my spouse and I are a childless couple in our 30s (me) and 40s (him), and we go on 1-2 destination resort vacations per year. We are bougie and typically get swim-up rooms in 5-star luxury resorts, spending on average $2500ish CAD per person. Also husband had never been on a cruise before and was very apprehensive about it, so he went in with very low expectations. I, on the other hand, had been on a Carnival cruise once when I was in university and remembered loving it, so I figured Celebrity was the perfect adult equivalent.
I’d like to share my review because I really enjoyed reading reviews before I booked and hope others might find this helpful or maybe make you reminiscent on your last Beyond cruise.
Port of Miami
We flew into Fort Lauderdale because it was the much cheaper option from Toronto. Driving to the port we had anticipated it being extremely chaotic because I had read a lot of reviews prior. That being said, our Uber driver was crafty and managed to get us from the entrance of the port to our drop off at the entrance of our ship bay within an hour. This does seem extremely inconvenient we seen many people walking with their luggage, but my spouse and I are pretty chill and didn’t mind sitting in traffic playing on our phones.
The building for celebrity itself was dead inside which I found so odd for how chaotic the exterior of the building was. We were about 2 hours earlier than our check-in time but they let us in without question!
Room/Aqua Class
We had the Aqua class room that comes with the highly debated ‘infinite balcony’. My husband was very concerned about feeling trapped in the room and was not sure how he would like the window aspect of the balcony vs an actual balcony, but I must say we absolutely loved it. We brought magnets and would hang out wet bathing suits up near the window to dry as we sailed. We even had it open one night where we were able to fall asleep listening to the sounds of the ocean. The room itself was spacious and my butler was able to get me an acupressure mat.
Aquaclass comes with the Persian Gardens which is the thermal spa. I thought it was really neat and as an added feature in the room class I made use of the spa 5 out of 7 nights. Key word night. It was very busy during the day on sea days but at night when everyone was at dinner or the show I really loved going there to unwind. In comparison to spa’s on resorts it was actually surprisingly large and had lots of seating in the steam rooms and saunas. Unlike a resort there was no pool in the spa which I found unfortunate, but I loved it nonetheless!
Dining & Food
I’ll start this section by saying we are not drinkers and I am a very ‘picky’ eater. We didn’t get any dining packages or drink packages, but we did get a few coffees at Cafe Al Bacio and it was delightful! We didn’t mind paying a few bucks here or there for some drinks, and the buffet had lots of juices, coffee, and tea available at all times.
I found it weird that they advertise that there are ‘dedicated water fill up’ locations on the ship, but we actually couldn’t find one and the staff kept directing us to the water station in the buffet that has a sign specifically saying ‘do not fill up water bottles’. People would fill a cup of water and then pour it into their water bottles. It was interesting but the least of my concerns. As an aquaclass guest we got 2 water bottles a day, and I will say that that was not enough water at all and to purchase a water bottle was $5… so it’s best to bring a refillable bottle and deal with the buffet fill up station!
Speaking of the buffet: wow! I just couldn’t believe the selection. I had a full plate every single meal, and even seconds sometimes. We had MDR once and it was yummy but again as a ‘picky’ eater I found it hard to find things I liked and feel bad asking them to alter my meals. We primarily ate at the buffet because my husband was obsessed with it.
I had high hopes for the elusive Blu restaurant, and honestly, I was really disappointed. We ate at Blu one night and I was shocked at how close together the tables are. We were placed next to another couple and I actually took a photo of the tables because I could only fit 3 fingers between the spaces of our tables. They were great folks and we talked with them throughout the evening, but I felt like we had to! We were literally eating with them. It was very odd.
Additionally, I didn’t find anything on the menu I liked because it was too healthy and fancy, but I knew from my research that you can ask for the master menu that has all the menus, so I was excited for that! I asked for that but they brought me a menu that only had 1 MDR menu. I thought maybe this was the master menu (is it?) so I ended up ordering one of the salads but specifically said ‘no nuts’ and told them I had a tree nut allergy. When they brought our apps my salad was covered in pecans. It was unfortunate because then I felt anxious eating anything from there. I told the waiter and he apologized and took the salad away but he never brought me a new salad or anything. It was weird. Anyway we stuck to the buffet after that and truly have no complaints because it was delicious food!
Entertainment/Pool
I couldn’t get over the shows and the theatre on the ship. The graphics on the stage and the lighting was beautiful. The singers and dancers were phenomenal, the acrobatics were incredible. The shows were packed and I understand why, they blew resort shows out of the water!
The ship also had a lot of other entertainment happening all over and we didn’t get to experience a lot of it because there was so much going on. It was never a dull moment on sea days, but that being said, if you want to go for a swim I’d recommend going early. We couldn’t believe how packed the one outdoor pool was. It was wild. Crawling with people one on top of another! But that being said everyone looked like they were having a great time. And even though the pool area was very busy there was still a lot of little nooks and crannies you could find to sit on a couch and chill out in the sun.
Concerns/Issues
I pretty much just have 2 main points of contention with our cruise, and they actually had nothing to do with the ship or vacation itself, but rather with the people on the ship.
#1: Politics on Display
People were literally wearing their politics on their sleeves and I found it so interesting. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m a Canadian and we are less ‘in your face’ about our politics or what, but I would never wear some of the shirts I seen. A few shirts I seen were ‘Ice Cold Conservative’, ‘Gulf of America’, and my personal favourite ‘We Are Charlie Kirk’. The 80+ year old lady wearing the Charlie Kirk shirt was also going around in an American flag hat wearing earrings that had Charlie Kirk’s face on them, and was giving out MAGA stickers. I found it absolutely unhinged and have never seen anything like that before on any of my vacations. Not sure if this is normal cruise attire? I get that there are LGBT meet-ups but we aren’t running around wearing MAKE AMERICAN GAY AGAIN shirts (that’s what I was going to ask her if her stickers meant but she never approached me, must have been my tattoos LOL)
#2 : Parents Letting Kids Run Wild
On numerous occasions we witnessed young children 4-5 years old completely alone wandering the ship. One evening in particular we got on an elevator and there was just a little girl maybe 5 years old on there by herself wearing a little dress with lipstick and fake eyelashes on. My husband couldn’t believe it. She got off in the casino lobby and just walked away like she owned the place, and that was just so troubling.
Both of us also had similar instances in washrooms where young children were completely alone in the bathrooms and then walked off into the busy pool deck or into the buffet to be lost in the crowd. I know we on a higher end cruise line but I think parents need to remember that rich people are just as sick and twisted as anyone else, and people need to keep an eye on their kids. It was unbelievable.
Summary/TLDR
The Celebrity Beyond was amazing and we loved it! My husband got off the cruise not knowing if he liked it better than a resort or not, but now he’s fully bought into the cruise lifestyle! We already have our next one scheduled: Celebrity Xcel December 2026! I can’t wait!!!!
There was so much to do on the ship and the ports were just an added bonus! I didn’t go into the details of the ports because this post is already massive. If you’ve read this far you awesome! Thanks for reading.
Booking a cruise with Greenland on the itinerary is 100% worth it. What an experience. Iceberg tour in Qaqortoq was a highlight of my LIFE. Cruising the Prince Christian Sound was another top five life experience. Just absolutely amazing. Loved Iceland too...It was just a wow every morning when I opened the blinds, and every night when I went to bed.
We are on Infinity in August, and have rented a villa for the day, in Oia. I'd *love* some advice.
Thank you kindly - have spent days searching for information to best answer these questions on CC until my son suggested Reddit and didn't realize I would have been better off coming here first.
Ef charisto!
I purchased a future cruise voucher in May. I’m looking at the email confirmation I received and don’t see the actual certificate number anywhere on the email or in the attachment that has my details. What am I missing? Thanks.
I’m currently on the Celebrity Equinox and got a room in the Aqua class category. However there’s a huge ventilation fan that constantly blows over my balcony that makes it sound like a perpetual storm, 24 hours a day. It’s better when the balcony is closed but that defeats the reason for this room. This wasn’t advertised as such (like a partial view room) and I brought it up to “Guest Relations” and they did “register” my complaint but scant else (I guess they can’t turn it off ). I believe the cruise lines should advertise these rooms as “noisy” much like partial obstruction rooms, particularly if you’re paying for a higher class balcony room.
Edit: closing the balcony door has no effect on the vent’s fan. When we are inside the cabin closing the door does mute the sound from outside however, the sound is there 24 hours a day. Sitting on the balcony exposes you to the sound.
For luggage that you carry on, are you allowed to drop that off at your room before going to explore the ship or do you have to carry it all with you for a while until the room is ready? Might be a dumb question but I can’t remember since it’s been years.
I was thinking of packing our necessities like meds, makeup, swim suits, some water bottles and drinks in a rolling carry on size suitcase. Just making sure we won’t look ridiculous pulling that around. 🤣 (we have an 11:30 time slot and will be going right to the concierge lunch if that makes any difference.). Thank you!
Sailing on Summit in about 40 days. Vancouver to Seward. There is no Entertainment listed. Does that post later, or is it possible they are not offering any Entertainment options on this cruise?
Not the biggest deal if they don’t, but just seems unusual.
Also, are there any shore excursions that you think would be regrettable not to do?
Checked my cruise fare this morning and saved $800
per cabin on my May 2027Beyond sailing - cabin class E4 Infinite veranda - $1600 saved over my onboard booking price but lost the $150 per cabin onboard credit… no brainer!!! Call and check it could be a very profitable 10 mins!!! Happy 4th:)
Hi! I’m embarking on the Iceland Intensive 7-day cruise on the Celebrity Silhouette at the end of this month. Has anyone done this cruise or ship and have any tips/suggestions?
TIA
I can’t get a straight answer and am booking a hotel. When I booked 8 months ago it said Yokohama. Now it says Tokyo(Odaiba isnt mentioned but guessing that’s what they mean). My TA checked a few months ago and was told Yokohama . Obviously it makes a difference to where I’m staying- anyone have official word or info? I’m traveling with a teen and nervous enough lol. Thanks!
Update: Tokyo international
In odaiba according to the agent chat