Ship Review: Celebrity Beyond,...

Highlights include Kelly Hoppen interiors and Daniel Boulud’s first restaurant at sea

Key selling points for cruise agents:

Dame Kelly Hoppen-designed interiors and a striking art collection
Brilliant onboard shopping, including preloved designer handbags at discounted prices
Luxury bars and lounges, from the mobile Magic Carpet oversea bar with epic views to the elegant Rooftop Garden bar with cinema screen sports coverage
Daniel Boulud’s first at-sea restaurant Le Voyage and Grand Bistro's Le Petit Chef dining experience where the plate becomes a projector screen
The undulating outdoor running track, Peloton bikes and F45 Fitness Training sessions
Goop CEO and founder Gwyneth Paltrow is the brand's Well-Being Advisor

Overview: Celebrity Beyond is Celebrity Cruises’ third Edge-series ship – after Celebrity Edge and Celebrity Apex – and it follows suit with a few new additions, including famed chef Daniel Boulud's first restaurant at sea and a lot more space in key areas. The Kelly Hoppen interior design is sublime. The dining options are abundant and the theatre productions – Elements and Arte – launched to standing ovations.

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Cabins: Hoppen’s magic touch is evident in the soothing tones of the stylish accommodations, which range from windowless Inside Staterooms to two-storey villas with private plunge pools at The Retreat, which has its own pool and deck (pictured above). In between, there are Oceanview Staterooms with porthole windows, Veranda Staterooms, and cleverly designed Infinite Veranda Staterooms, which benefit from additional floor space that can be cordoned off by double doors to create an open-air balcony when the upper window is lowered. Infinite Veranda Staterooms are also available as wellness-focused Aqua Class and added-luxury Concierge Class cabins with additional services and amenities and access to private restaurants.

In line with the trend for solo travel, there are also double the number of Edge Single Staterooms with Infinite Verandas

Food and drink: There are more than 20 restaurants and bars to choose between – here are the must-tries. Larger than Grand Plazas on sister Edge Series ships, Beyond’s redesigned Grand Plaza atrium spans three decks. At its base is the buzzing Martini Bar where mixologists give nightly cocktail-throwing performances.

Perhaps best known for designing Dubai’s world-famous Burj Al Arab hotel, lead architect Tom Wright of WKK is responsible for much of the outdoor space, including the tennis court-sized Magic Carpet, a cantilevered platform that scales the side of the ship, transforming from a tender platform for going ashore alongside lower decks to an open-air bar alongside higher decks.

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The multi-terraced open-air Sunset Bar is another delight, nearly twice as large as previous iterations, with a pergola-covered entrance, intimate niches and enclaves.

Solo musicians perform gentle ballads in the golden hour at Sunset Bar

Dining options include the Oceanview Café buffet the Spa Café & Juice Bar serving Goop smoothies at a supplementary charge, and four a la carte restaurants: Cosmopolitan offering classic American fine dining, and Cyprus, Tuscan and Normandie, named after their culinary themes.

The highlight of the six speciality and private dining options is Le Petit Chef, a dining experience hosted at Le Grand Bistro in which the plate become projector screen for a little toque-topped chef to skip across as he tells the story of the meal being served. It’s fabulous fun – and the food is very good. For something fancier, try to secure a reservation at Le Voyage, the first-ever Daniel Boulud fine-dining restaurant at sea.

Celebrity beyond bar Martini Bar

Facilities: Gwyneth Paltrow is Celebrity Beyond’s Wellbeing Advisor and Aqua Class guests receive fitness kits from Paltrow’s goop brand. The fitness centre offers Peloton bikes and F-45 training classes. The spa’s thermal suite features heated ceramic loungers, a salt therapy room, a water and colour therapy rainfall corridor, a hammam and an aromatherapy steam room.

An undulating running track loops the deck, which is 40% larger than on previous Edge Series ships – five laps equal one mile. It has an outdoor pool surrounded by a terraced deck and sunken seating areas designed by Hoppen. Hoppen also designed the scenic Rooftop Garden (a great spot for watching sport on big screens or live bands), while Wright designed the two wine-glass-shaped hot tubs cantilevered 6ft over the side of the ship.

Theatre productions were developed at London’s Palladium. Arte is perhaps the most impressive with LED screens displaying versions of history's finest artworks as acrobats, dancers and singer tell its story.

Garden-inspired Eden also hosts various performances on the dance floor, along with the occasional silent disco.

Celebrity Beyond other bar Grand Plaza