Here is a review of our 8 night cruise on Celebrity Beyond to Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao for anyone interested! Short summary is we loved it. But for more in depth review (as always this is my personal experience and thoughts)…it’s long so will split up into multiple posts.
BASICS: Beyond was built in 2022. Max capacity is 3900, and double occupancy is 3200. There were about 350 kids onboard per the kids club staff. Myself, DH, and DD11 had a concierge infinite verandah room at 240 sq feet. We paid 5300 for our fare. We also pre-purchased the premium beverage package for DH and myself (this also allowed DD11 to get unlimited nonalcoholic drinks) and premium WiFi for 2 devices so we paid $6800 total before the cruise. We have done 3 Dream cruises, one Wish, and have the Treasure and Wish booked again. Last cruises on DCL were 2 in 2023. Also have done NCL as a family and RCL and Princess before kids.
EMBARKATION: Pulled into parking garage at Port Everglades at 1050 am and on the ship at 1115 even though we had a 12 boarding time. Easiest process ever and I didn’t have to wake up at midnight beforehand to book a boarding time! Muster process way easier—We had to watch a video on the phone that morning and then physically check in at our muster station when we boarded. That was it, no shutting the ship down for 45 minutes and physically going at the same time. Advantage to Celebrity over DCL.
CABIN: infinite verandah is a floor to ceiling glass wall so the balcony is more like a sunroom. You can lower the wall to be open halfway to “convert” to a balcony, but the AC in your room automatically kicks off. I liked it because it made the room feel bigger and I could get sit with a sea view in climate control. DH preferred regular balcony. No split bathroom but glass wall in shower and lots of aorage and counter space in bathroom. DD11 slept on sofa similar to DCL set up. Aesthetic was clean neutral and reminded us more of Wish without Disney art. I could see having 4 people would be tight in the cabin mainly due to one bathroom. Concierge is not like DCL (which we have never sailed due to $). Concierge gets a separate embarkation lunch and sparkling wine and canapés daily. We only booked it because that was all that was left when booking. No clear advantage to us between DCL and Celebrity cabins. We did have twice daily cabin service.
FOOD: We all liked Celebrity dining better. We had anytime dining so just show up whenever you feel like and to whatever MDR you want. If you prefer you can go to the same MDR at the same time everyday and have the same service team. We liked the flexibility of going whenever we wanted and also liked that we did not have to share a table with others. The food quality in the MDR was overall superior to DCL to us. There are 4 MDRs. Each has 3 exclusive entrees to them (for example the Italian one featured pasta), then they all 4 share 5 entrees that change daily and 3 classics always served. Service in MDRs was fine—nothing spectacular but nothing bad. It was better than some DCl experiences but not as good as others. Nice thing is if you didn’t like the service one night you have a new team the next if you go to a different MDR. They don’t do magic tricks and such but that is fine for us.
We did do 2 speciality dinners just to mix it up and enjoyed them. There are more speciality options on Beyond ranging from sushi to steakhouse to French. Prices ranged from 45-125 per person. However, we did not feel like we needed to do specialty dining.
Drinks seemed more elevated than DCL, though I think the Triton ships are working in more craft cocktails. Drinks were more expensive at mostly $12-17. We spent a lot of time at the Martini bar with flair bartenders and the Sunset Bar which was aft and outside with acoustic guitar players and beautiful views with lots and comfy outdoor seating.
Pool grill was burgers and hotdogs and just meh. I think the pool options on Wish are much better. We aren’t big buffet people, but the buffet on Celebrity was very nice with lots of made to order stations. Buffet is also open for dinner so nice option if you don’t want to do a sit down full service meal—DCL really needs to have another option beside room service and MDR for dinner. Ice cream was 8 hard scoop flavors, 2 soft serve, and toppings that are scooped for you. We all liked that better than DCL—I also hate self serve on DCL after seeing the questionable hygiene from people (like licking their fingers and then using ice cream machine). Advantage Celebrity over DCL.
POOL: There was one large pool with shelf seating and in water loungers as well as a deeper end at 5 feet, two raised hot tubs with sea views, two infinity plunge pools, and an adult only solarium with a pool and two hot tubs. They were crowded as any cruise ship, but DD11 swam more on this cruise than any DCL cruise because she had more space. No lifeguards. There are no water slides or splash pads, so that may be an issue for some. We saw one family push their little kids in a ring floating unicorn around the pool every day and they had space to do itWe enjoyed the pool more on Celebrity. They had various music (acoustic guitar, DJ) that we did not find loud or grating. They did aqua aerobics, guest vs officer volleyball, pool Olympics, etc. DD11 was asked by the cruise director to help lead water aerobics and she loved that. Nothing that was inappropriate for kids. We liked that there was more entertainment than just whatever movie is blasting on FunnelVision. Advantage Celebrity over DCL for us.
More in next post!
BASICS: Beyond was built in 2022. Max capacity is 3900, and double occupancy is 3200. There were about 350 kids onboard per the kids club staff. Myself, DH, and DD11 had a concierge infinite verandah room at 240 sq feet. We paid 5300 for our fare. We also pre-purchased the premium beverage package for DH and myself (this also allowed DD11 to get unlimited nonalcoholic drinks) and premium WiFi for 2 devices so we paid $6800 total before the cruise. We have done 3 Dream cruises, one Wish, and have the Treasure and Wish booked again. Last cruises on DCL were 2 in 2023. Also have done NCL as a family and RCL and Princess before kids.
EMBARKATION: Pulled into parking garage at Port Everglades at 1050 am and on the ship at 1115 even though we had a 12 boarding time. Easiest process ever and I didn’t have to wake up at midnight beforehand to book a boarding time! Muster process way easier—We had to watch a video on the phone that morning and then physically check in at our muster station when we boarded. That was it, no shutting the ship down for 45 minutes and physically going at the same time. Advantage to Celebrity over DCL.
CABIN: infinite verandah is a floor to ceiling glass wall so the balcony is more like a sunroom. You can lower the wall to be open halfway to “convert” to a balcony, but the AC in your room automatically kicks off. I liked it because it made the room feel bigger and I could get sit with a sea view in climate control. DH preferred regular balcony. No split bathroom but glass wall in shower and lots of aorage and counter space in bathroom. DD11 slept on sofa similar to DCL set up. Aesthetic was clean neutral and reminded us more of Wish without Disney art. I could see having 4 people would be tight in the cabin mainly due to one bathroom. Concierge is not like DCL (which we have never sailed due to $). Concierge gets a separate embarkation lunch and sparkling wine and canapés daily. We only booked it because that was all that was left when booking. No clear advantage to us between DCL and Celebrity cabins. We did have twice daily cabin service.
FOOD: We all liked Celebrity dining better. We had anytime dining so just show up whenever you feel like and to whatever MDR you want. If you prefer you can go to the same MDR at the same time everyday and have the same service team. We liked the flexibility of going whenever we wanted and also liked that we did not have to share a table with others. The food quality in the MDR was overall superior to DCL to us. There are 4 MDRs. Each has 3 exclusive entrees to them (for example the Italian one featured pasta), then they all 4 share 5 entrees that change daily and 3 classics always served. Service in MDRs was fine—nothing spectacular but nothing bad. It was better than some DCl experiences but not as good as others. Nice thing is if you didn’t like the service one night you have a new team the next if you go to a different MDR. They don’t do magic tricks and such but that is fine for us.
We did do 2 speciality dinners just to mix it up and enjoyed them. There are more speciality options on Beyond ranging from sushi to steakhouse to French. Prices ranged from 45-125 per person. However, we did not feel like we needed to do specialty dining.
Drinks seemed more elevated than DCL, though I think the Triton ships are working in more craft cocktails. Drinks were more expensive at mostly $12-17. We spent a lot of time at the Martini bar with flair bartenders and the Sunset Bar which was aft and outside with acoustic guitar players and beautiful views with lots and comfy outdoor seating.
Pool grill was burgers and hotdogs and just meh. I think the pool options on Wish are much better. We aren’t big buffet people, but the buffet on Celebrity was very nice with lots of made to order stations. Buffet is also open for dinner so nice option if you don’t want to do a sit down full service meal—DCL really needs to have another option beside room service and MDR for dinner. Ice cream was 8 hard scoop flavors, 2 soft serve, and toppings that are scooped for you. We all liked that better than DCL—I also hate self serve on DCL after seeing the questionable hygiene from people (like licking their fingers and then using ice cream machine). Advantage Celebrity over DCL.
POOL: There was one large pool with shelf seating and in water loungers as well as a deeper end at 5 feet, two raised hot tubs with sea views, two infinity plunge pools, and an adult only solarium with a pool and two hot tubs. They were crowded as any cruise ship, but DD11 swam more on this cruise than any DCL cruise because she had more space. No lifeguards. There are no water slides or splash pads, so that may be an issue for some. We saw one family push their little kids in a ring floating unicorn around the pool every day and they had space to do itWe enjoyed the pool more on Celebrity. They had various music (acoustic guitar, DJ) that we did not find loud or grating. They did aqua aerobics, guest vs officer volleyball, pool Olympics, etc. DD11 was asked by the cruise director to help lead water aerobics and she loved that. Nothing that was inappropriate for kids. We liked that there was more entertainment than just whatever movie is blasting on FunnelVision. Advantage Celebrity over DCL for us.
More in next post!
