Celebrity Beyond: Still Loyal to Royal?
Our family of four plus our parents (so seven in total) cruised for the first time on the Celebrity Beyond over our fall break. It was our first time cruising on any Celebrity ship. Our parents had sailed with them a handful of times but never on the Edge class of ships. We weren’t sure what to expect and really had not done much research into what the ship had to offer. Nor did we know how we would like the ship as compared to the newer, bigger ships that Royal Caribbean is putting out.
The first big difference that we noticed was the size of the ship. Royal Caribbean’s newest ship, Star of the Seas, is about 100 feet (38 meters) longer and has the maximum capacity of 7600 versus Celebrity Beyond’s nearly 4000 passengers. In more ways than one, Celebrity Beyond felt a lot more like the Odyssey of the Seas, which came out in 2021 around the same time as the Celebrity Beyond. Celebrity Beyond is not a small ship by any means, but it definitely provides a medium to smaller ship feel. Due to its “smaller” size (I know it’s relative), getting around the ship was very manageable, there were fewer crowds everywhere, and getting to know the crew was much easier.
The other main similarity that we noticed to the Odyssey of the Seas was the beautiful and unique design that we found on board the Celebrity Beyond. Just like with the Odyssey but perhaps even more so, chandeliers were beautifully constructed, hallways were designed not just as a way to get from one point to another but as an experience. There are four different main dining rooms that all had a fun and unique design to go with their theme. The specialty restaurants had a beautiful and fun look that really made the extra cost seem worthwhile. In the venue they call Eden it did seem like a literal paradise. There were swings, lots of hidden areas to relax, beautiful views of the wake and a great bar. The pool deck had some great sculptures to look at and walk by and there were lots of fun areas to explore.
We noticed that everything seemed to be designed with purpose AND beauty in mind. On the pool deck, there was a variety of areas where you could relax and they were all so cute and cozy. The club where many of the game shows and trivia took place was designed so that you could be comfortable wherever you were sitting. The main theater was great and there didn’t seem to be a bad seat in the house. Where the ship lacked in an aqua theater and ice skating rink, it made up for with their big beautiful screens that were expertly incorporated into every performance. It was really stunning.
The Celebrity Beyond is definitely designed with adults in mind. Because our family, it turns out, doesn’t care too much about the water slides found on other ships, we didn’t miss that there weren’t any on this ship. Our youngest was bummed to find that there was no playground, arcade or mini golf course. One thing that we missed on the Beyond was a really nice sports bar that we had become accustomed to having on Royal Caribbean ships. They have a very small sports bar but we were disappointed in what they had on the TVs. They did have a small menu that you could order from but we didn’t try anything since we weren’t planning to stay and hang out. Generally, there wasn’t much that we missed.
Because cruising on Royal Caribbean has become quite expensive, we were looking forward to finding out if sailing on Celebrity would be an equally fun and enjoyable experience for our family. We were overall very impressed with everything available on the ship. We saw very little noticeable wear and tear, which can happen very easily on a cruise ship, especially up on deck out in the elements. Since this is a newer ship, Chris and I are very curious how our experience will compare to our cruise that we have booked for May on the Celebrity Millennium, one of Celebrity’s oldest ships.
