We chose this cruise because we wanted to experience this class of ship and the online videos looked beautiful. The ship is beautiful but, in the end, it was not what we expected and although we enjoyed it, it wasn't our favorite. Considering the price, we paid we did not feel the Beyond was a very good value. Embarkation was a breeze and we seemed off to a great start. One thing about this ship is that the crew is extremely friendly, and everyone is welcoming and says hello, good morning, or how was your day. We were able to go right to our cabin and dump our things. We found the cabin a bit small, but the bathroom was nice and large with a big shower. When we arrived at the cabin, we had some problems. The air conditioning was not operating, the safe in the room malfunctioned, and the doors to the "balcony" were off the track and not working. When we attempted to get assistance the telephone in the cabin wasn't working either. Our cabin was a veranda cabin, but one where a glass comes down with the push of a button, so the veranda is basically part of the cabin.

At the start there appears to be a lot of choices on this ship but it doesn't take long to figure out the food on board isn't great. There are four main dining rooms all serving some of the same things with some minor changes each night but after a few evenings we were tired of seeing the same menu every night. Moreover, what is fresh today may not be tomorrow because it is probably reheated as the quality wasn't consistent. While this is good for the cruise line, it's not thrilling for the guests. The one item we had in the main dining room that was great was the French onion soup, everything else was mediocre. They did have lobster one evening, but the tails were small and rubbery, not at all palatable. I was never on a ship before this that had terrible ice cream which was obviously made in house as it was all gritty and not sweet, and this is not only in the dining room but at Scoops the ice cream station as well. Once we tried Scoops we never went again because we didn't like it. The buffet on the Lido deck is not much more promising. They put pork in everything, even the calzone on the pizza station. The buffet actually has a carving station where roasted carrots are served. Not a fan. The only thing on the buffet worth mentioning was the pasta station and also one day they had carved turkey off a whole bird which was good. The days when they had turkey breast it was dry. The pizza station was good at lunch when they offered garlic bread, never in the evening and they always seemed to be out of pepperoni pizza. We did also enjoy the tuna salad on the buffet. Desserts were not worth a mention except for the gluten free station, don't miss the Victory Cake the day they serve it. Other desserts we liked were from the coffee bar, but not on the buffet or in the dining room. It's been years since I've seen watermelon with seeds.

The entertainment on Beyond was some of the worst I have ever seen on a cruise ship. The production shows were fair with the highlight being the acrobatics, but they had a singer on the ship that would make Simon Cowell cringe. Worst of all she was performing everywhere on the ship, and you could never get away from it. We did enjoy the in-cabin movies though and once they had a movie in the theatre. Our cabin steward was great. They had a party for their loyalty program and served some of the worst crappy cheap snacks and drinks you can imagine. The shops on board were overpriced and out of a lot of merchandise. The most annoying thing of all was the elevators where you push a button for your deck and halfway up the light would go out and you had to keep pushing it. For a new ship there were a lot of problems. The coffee bars were pretty much well-staffed and served quickly. If you go, make reservations for dining well in advance as there is no availability on the ship, but be warned cover charges for the pay restaurants are high. Simply put, this was an expensive cruise with atrocious food and entertainment, and I have no desire to repeat it. The food and entertainment on far less expensive voyages have been much better in my opinion.