ljk76

The Apex handled some rough seas on our Northern transatlantic very well last year. The captain was very pleased and we never met any passengers who had motion issues despite seas that kept the open decks closed much of the time.  So any stabilizer issues would be new this year.  I think it was the Beyond that has many cabin noise complaints. It seems to be a resolving issue now for the Ascent…

t I am imagining a more relaxed day at the beach without transportation stress or overly-aggressive beach vendors

i think you will find that CocoKey delivers just that! We really enjoyed it on our first postcovid cruise, on Royal. Although we are usually Celebrity cruisers the port was close and we enjoyed the quick getaway and Coco Key was a big part of that. It was a great beach day without paying for taxis, or loungers and umbrellas, or extra for food and drink.  There was plenty of room to spread out, get in some nice walks, and no need to spend extra money.  

23 minutes ago, raymac46 said:

We did a *lot* of cruising on Celebrity from 2006 - 2018. Then after a 2019 cruise on RCI came COVID. Last year we went on another RCI cruise to use up credits we had from Canceled COVID dates.

Now we are coming back to Celebrity as we got a good deal on a Caribbean cruise on Reflection.

We'll see how it goes. We don't have high expectations, we have Elite Plus status so we get a number of perks.

I doubt we'll ever cruise on E class - the IV "balconies" look ridiculous and we would never pay the kind of money Celebrity is asking for a suite. We also don't like the creeping stratification going on with Edge where you can't even go near the bow of the ship unless you pay a premium.

Fortunately at our age, the S class ships will be around as long as we can cruise.

I honestly have things I like about all Celebrity ships. Try the Edge class…it may surprise you!

23 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Our next TA 12 night cruise , we at $833 CAD a person in a balcony , and the cheapest direct flight to Lisbon is $666 CAD for 6 hours 🤔😁

That is a great price, and for a balcony! You agree, bargains can be found! Enjoy!

We still find cruises, including Celebrity, to be a bargain. We have begun to focus on transatlantic and repositioning cruises. We enjoy the new E class - the theater and entertainment in general, are outstanding.  We have concluded an IV room isn’t necessary and moving to an ocean view really creates a great price point. We book without add ons, but when we find 40% off drink packages or internet we consider those. With the 4 dining rooms we don’t miss Blu as much. 
 

when a cruise is $72 a night per person, base fare, it’s easy to be forgiving of a few cut backs. We’re on the Ascent. Pretty sure a one way plane fare to Barcelona would cost much more than my 13 night cruise. 
 

But for a 7 night Caribbean cruise I know the math is much different. And I would need a real balcony for that! So I do feel everyone’s pain when I consider that. 

Thanks to the advice offered here, we did book the Ascent transatlantic in an ocean view 3rd floor cabin.  We chose #3210, under the Celebrity Shops, behind the captain’s club and concierge desks, separated by a wall. Very excited! We did the Apex transatlantic last year in April and it was wonderful , although the weather was not.  This is a more southern route so hoping the weather will be better. We know the entertainment and activities will be great. Thanks again for the specific and helpful advice.

Thanks for the very specific suggestions. I won’t take a guarantee, but it sounds like if we can get something near 3182 we would be fine. We were on deck 2 on the Summit for ten days and had no issues with the ocean view room. Honestly a case can be made that the IV is an expanded ocean view room, with an opening window.

16 minutes ago, Arubamoose said:

We did a B2B this year on the Edge in cabin 3182.

On the map it is behind Guest Services, below is the Basement on Deck 2 and it is below the Celebrity Shops on Deck 4.

We loved the location.  Short walk to the restaurants on Deck 3 towards the stern.  Short walk to the Grand Plaza and Martini Bar on Deck 3 towards the bow.  Elevators were just around the corner.  

Very quiet.

I would not have chosen one closer to the bow behind the Martini Bar and under Cafe Al Bacio.

We are considering a transatlantic on the Ascent and like the idea of doing it on the cheap.  We just cruised for 10 days in an ocean view on the Summit and we’re surprised to find we didn’t need a balcony as much as we previously thought.

However almost all the ocean view cabins are on deck 3 which is actually a rather busy spot…two of the dining rooms, the theater, the martini bar.  Does anyone have experience on this deck in any of the Edge class? And I know I’d have to research what might be above us depending on cabin location. Thanks!

Perfect choices all the way! Love the Summit, we will be on her for the 5th time when she does her repositioning cruise to Miami. Those aft Aqua cabins are the BEST! and you simply can’t go wrong with Bermuda. Special Ed teachers are miraculous says this retired first grade teacher. Have a wonderful birthday and cruise. I will be following!
 

6 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Now that the final pre-trip laundry has been done...let's get this party started!!

 

Hi! I'm Beth!

 

 

I'm a Special Education teacher in NYC who loves traveling! My birthday is next week, and I decided what better way to celebrate than on a cruise!! I'll be on the Summit to Bermuda - first times for both of those.

 

This will be my second Celebrity cruise - the first was on the Edge in Feb 2020 - and 16th cruise overall (1 Emerald Seas, 1 HAL, 3 Royal Caribbean, 2 fathom, 1 Celebrity (not counting this one), and 7 Disney) and the first time I'm able to simply take a car service to the port! Going out of Bayonne, NJ!

 

My TA warned me about the dangers of that - not having to worry about checking a bag on an airplane, and it's true so I'm using a bigger suitcase than normal. LOL.

 

My fur baby Merida

will be at home and her pet sitter will come in to check on her. And yes, being a typical cat, she has hopped in the suitcase more than once!

 

Having a kinda busy week leading into the trip - Shania Twain concert tonight; blood donation tomorrow; Jazz Nite at my church tomorrow night; movie day on Friday; Mammogram on Saturday followed by a roots touch-up - so laundry today finished up a couple of shirts I'm taking and other than last-minute stuff and shoes I'll wear tonight or tomorrow, packing is DONE!

 

I'm in Aqua Class - cabin 1141! First time Aqua and first time with a wake view (and first time in Blu - YAY!)!! Super excited about that!! I'm doing 3 ship-based excursions: Famous Homes and Hideaway Cruise; White Night Catamaran Sunset Sail (on my birthday!!); Devil's Isle Cruise and Beach Snorkel. I'm also doing Captain Kirk's Glass Bottom Boat and Snorkel trip during the day on my birthday that I booked independently.

 

I've upgraded to the premium internet, so hopefully I'll be able to keep this one going live. 😄 I've only done one other one when I was on the Edge, so hopefully I'm doing it right!

 

5 more days!!!!

11 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

You might want to avoid carnival and RCL.

I do. Celebrity is my line of choice, although I’d do RCL with friends or family. Hated Carnival. 

On 6/4/2023 at 9:31 AM, shof515 said:

all cruise lines is cutting back on room stewards and assigning them double the work. i notice it on all my previous on all major cruise lines

I have not and many cruise lines are still providing twice daily service. I have my first NCL cruise upcoming and I am honestly prepared to be quite underwhelmed, but the itinerary and friends we will be traveling with will make some concessions worthwhile.

We saw that little set of books…sad. I remember books I read on certain cruises.  . Med cruise 2010…The Help.  Really had me wondering what the crew thought of us all.  Adriatic 2013…Where are You Going Bernadette?  Wondered who was escaping their reality. We can all bring our own books, but the library was just a great place to find one you might have missed…

7 hours ago, kwokpot said:

I think this is wishful thinking. It's not going to happen. In fact on the E-Class libraries are non-existent. In the past on E-Class they tried a book cart that looked like a hotdog stand and I think most recently they have literally a handful tucked away on a ledge in one of the sitting nooks in Eden along the ramps. 

It was so helpful to see those wine by the glass lists….thank you! I think our strategy will be to pay the difference at least to start. For 15 nights for the 2 of us it would be $600…don’t think we will drink that much Decoy…

Decoy Cabernet…any idea on price per glass ,or availability?  Thinking I’ll just pay the upcharge per glass, but….enjoyed the endless pour on our last Apex cruise.   Paying the price for premium upgrade is a little costlier for a 15 day transatlantic.  

So looking forward to our first transatlantic on the Apex! Really nice way to get to Amsterdam for our Rhine River cruise.  It’s ironic though, our 15 day cruise in Aqua is only $200 more each than our flight home from Zurich and we only have premium economy! I am confident we are going to enjoy our cruise transportation way more than our flight.

look forward to lots of lazy days reading followed by some great ports that are new to us.  

We were on the Apex a year ago, and are on her transatlantic this  April. We were in Aqua, so ate in Blu. At that time we could order off any of the 4 dining room menus. Because we were part of a large group we stuck to Blu, but we will enjoy eating in the other dining rooms this trip as well as in Blu. Very attractive spaces and nicely varied menus. Can’t speak to service but I’m looking forward to the variety available! You can go to any dining room at any time. If there should be a wait, they will advise you of an alternative without a wait. Or give you a pager. 
 

if you go on the app under dining the menus will give you a sense of what to expect. I believe they only open one of the restaurants for seated breakfasts. 

Enjoy the Silly, been on it twice in regular balconies. Love the Apex, and for cooler weather I think the IVs  are perfect. Lounge in comfort on your sofa or bed, depending on your room configuration  and feel very much a part of the scenery. For my upcoming transatlantic I think it’s perfect. Strictly for the Caribbean I might prefer a standard balcony for sunning. 

Our first European trip was a Med cruise With Regent and it was great! We had a great travel agent who planned our 4 days in Rome, with a well-located hotel, transfers, and some small group tours. I know it was much less expensive than the Regent offering.  We did use their included tours, and for the most part enjoyed them. None of our buses were crowded at all, and we generally broke up into smaller groups when arriving at the attraction.

This trip gave us the confidence to do more planning on our own, and our next three European cruises were with Azamara. Those three cruises combined probably cost what the first Regent one did. I love their product as well. 

Yes it’s true that an ocean cruise is mainly a small plates tasting menu…but you learn what to order for an entree later. We never would have thought to visit Malta, and we can’t wait to visit again. 

We loved the Summit, especially when we could score one of the large aft balconies …once we even got one of the big corner ones!

we loved the Solstice. 
 

And now we love the Apex. We actually enjoy the extra space the IV provides and the amazing public spaces with lots of nooks and crannies. 

Another great option in to rent a condo through VRBO or the like. We spent a week in Maui in a one bedroom condo directly on the beach, with a great lanai view. Less than half the price of hotels.  We were pleasantly surprised that the prices at the full size grocery weren’t too horrendous. We were just selective on what we bought. Even wine was only $1 more for our go to.perhaps you could do the cruise, then add on the condo? I’ve done three “styles “ of visits, plane trips between islands, cruise, one week relax and chill. All have merit.

Thanks! First noticed it on our Apex sailing a year ago.  A nice addition!

Thank you! Big sigh of relief!