Celebrity Beyond

Some ships play it safe, and then there is the Celebrity Beyond. Third in the Edge class after the Edge and the Apex, it could have settled for doing the same thing better. Instead, its designers added about twenty metres to its length, created more space throughout, and handed its décor to a roster of designers you are more likely to find in the pages of magazines than at sea. The result is a ship that fully commits to its orientation: adult, refined, focused on comfort and dining. Here is what we took away, straight to the point.

A Selvague honesty note: the figures in the technical specifications above are confirmed by cross-referencing several sources. The construction cost and the space-to-passenger ratio, not being reliably verifiable, are deliberately excluded. We would rather say nothing than put forward a figure we cannot stand behind.

A little bigger, and it changes everything

The Beyond is not just an Edge stretched for the sake of it. Those twenty extra metres allowed for the addition of an entire deck — deck 17, which the Edge and Apex do not have — and pushed the walls out across the ship. The main pool on the resort deck is longer, the Sunset Bar at the stern has nearly doubled in size, and the suite area now spreads across the ship's highest decks with a two-level private solarium. This is not a small detail: on a ship, space is the real luxury, and the Beyond has made it its signature.

On the visual side, Celebrity called on names that carry weight. British designer Kelly Hoppen signed several spaces including the Rooftop Garden. Nate Berkus imagined the Sunset Bar in a Moroccan spirit, like a Casablanca terrace placed above the wake. And the Parisian duo Jouin Manku — the same signature as the Eiffel Tower restaurant — designed Le Voyage and the Grand Plaza. The intention is felt everywhere: to make a liner a design object, not just a mode of transport.

"On a ship, space is the real luxury — and the Beyond has made it its signature."

Selvague

Cabins: the window that divides

You cannot discuss the Beyond without addressing the Infinite Veranda, the signature cabin of the Edge class. The concept: instead of a separate balcony, the upper half of the bay window lowers to transform the end of the room into a space open to the sea. It is ingenious, and it is also, by Celebrity's own admission, "divisive". The Infinite Veranda genuinely changes your relationship with the outside — provided you know how it actually works. Everything is controlled via the app — blinds, lights, temperature — which some love and others find annoying.

Above that, the range steps up: Concierge Class, AquaClass with its access to the restaurant Blu and the Thermal Suite, then the entire world of suites. King-size beds come up again and again in testimonials — it is one of the points on which the ship draws universal praise.

The Retreat: a ship within the ship

The suites on the Beyond are not just a cabin category; they are a dedicated neighbourhood called The Retreat, occupying the ship's highest decks. Guests there have their own restaurant, Luminae, whose menus bear the touch of chef Daniel Boulud; a lounge with a dedicated concierge open at all hours; and a two-level private solarium, with a pool, hot tubs and swings facing the horizon. It is the most accomplished expression of what the Beyond knows how to do: creating pockets of calm for those who seek them.

Dining: where the Beyond really scores

This is probably the area where the ship impresses most. Four main restaurants are included, each with its own personality: Cyprus for Greek Mediterranean, Tuscan for Italy, Cosmopolitan for American and continental cuisine, and Normandie for France. The system is clever: a shared base of dishes that rotates daily, complemented by the specialities of each room's theme. You never eat quite the same thing twice.

Rarely do ships offer such depth at the table.

But the true trump card is Le Voyage, chef Daniel Boulud's very first restaurant at sea. Alongside it, the Beyond lines up a collection of premium restaurants covering almost every craving: Eden with its open kitchen across three decks facing the wake, Raw on 5 for sushi, the Rooftop Garden Grill under its glass canopy, Fine Cut for meat lovers, and Le Petit Chef, where dinner becomes a projection show on your table.

To reach Blu, the restaurant reserved for AquaClass, and the Eden space, you pass through a corridor that most passengers walk straight through without looking up.

Nothing is perfect, and we say so too: some regulars found the Cosmopolitan and in-cabin service below par on a second voyage, and Fine Cut, open to the atrium, can be noisy. Nothing deal-breaking, but worth knowing.

On board: plenty to fill the days

The Magic Carpet, that suspended orange platform that moves along the hull, remains the visual signature of the Edge class: now a bar perched at the top, now a restaurant a few decks lower. The theatre, designed in the round rather than as a traditional auditorium, hosts shows with a giant screen and aerial performances. The Grand Plaza, the ship's beating heart across three floors, comes alive each evening around its martini bar. And for those seeking fresh air, the Rooftop Garden with its real garden, the adults-only indoor solarium and the large resort-deck pool offer a range of different atmospheres.