APEX 02/26-03/05 2022 Retreat, Eastern Caribbean out of Ft Lauderdale

[mfs2k]

On 2/26/2022 at 9:05 PM, KKB said:

Last summer we sailed the Edge.

Got to the airport over an hour away...realized I DIDN'T HAVE MY VACCINE CARD!!

(DH was stunned--I'm the organization queen, especially when it comes to travel. But HEY--vaccine cards are a new thing!!)

 

Next week, NYC is discontinuing the requirement that indoor restaurant patrons have to show proof of vaccination.  I'm hopeful testing and vaccine mandates are discontinued by October when we sail on Beyond. My wife and I are vaccinated and boosted, but the testing mandate is stressful because of that unknown element... No one is testing for any other contagious disease prior to cruising. 

[graphicguy]

@KBB…came in 2nd place.  
 

$200, so net $140

 

Beats a blank.

 

1st place=$300

 

No final table for winners.

[graphicguy]

1 hour ago, mfs2k said:

 

Next week, NYC is discontinuing the requirement that indoor restaurant patrons have to show proof of vaccination.  I'm hopeful testing and vaccine mandates are discontinued by October when we sail on Beyond. My wife and I are vaccinated and boosted, but the testing mandate is stressful because of that unknown element... No one is testing for any other contagious disease prior to cruising. 

Can’t predict.  My opinion (Mine only), passenger counts are up.  If the current downward trends continue, and they continue full adult vaccination requirements, testing will go away by Spring Break!

[LambChopFiend]

2 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Still a bit dicey.  Even short vids are difficult.  I won’t even try to stream anything (which my plan is supposed to be used for).

 

Pics are seemingly posting, but slow in the process!

@graphicguy Do you think it's just a speed issue? Do you think a wifi call or audio only meeting would work? Those typically use only around 0.1mbps I believe, but are obviously very affected by latency and spottiness.

 

Thanks for all the updates!

[DaKahuna]

We found streaming worked for us on Edge in 2020 and on Reflection this past December. 

 

Here's an interesting read, from a former IT person on Royal Caribbean,  for those of you that are interested. 

 

https://www.quora.com/How-does-WiFi-on-a-cruise-ship-work/answer/James-Abbgy

 

[graphicguy]

20 minutes ago, LambChopFiend said:

@graphicguy Do you think it's just a speed issue? Do you think a wifi call or audio only meeting would work? Those typically use only around 0.1mbps I believe, but are obviously very affected by latency and spottiness.

 

Thanks for all the updates!

Wish I had a good answer for you.  I can give an opinion, as someone who has done more than his fare share of Zoom calls.  No!

 

Audio only?  GF did a WiFi call earlier today.  She said there were dropouts.  They were only a second at a time.  But, if you’re dealing with business or technical information, not sure that would play well.

 

I think what I’m trying to say, of ZOOM or voice calls are critical, I’d probably punt on depending on the Premium or Streaming service, regardless the price, at least as of right now.

[happy cruzer]

 

Have they said what the number of passengers is?  I saw where you thought it was going up.  Just really curious how much it is going up.  Especially for next week 🙂 !

[graphicguy]

10 minutes ago, happy cruzer said:

 

Have they said what the number of passengers is?  I saw where you thought it was going up.  Just really curious how much it is going up.  Especially for next week 🙂 !

1,950 guests

About 1,500 crew

 

There were about 1,300 guests when I sailed the EDGE (same sized ship) in July.

 

APEX guest capacity is 2,900 guests!  Not sure about crew capacity!

[MACruisers]

Have followed several of your threads. Always enjoy them. I’ll be boarding Apex for a B2B as you depart.  Would you be able to ask about the approximate passenger count for next week? I appreciate any info.  

[Shadow9612]

8 hours ago, graphicguy said:

@KBB…came in 2nd place.  
 

$200, so net $140

Time to tell your GF that you want to add the $140 to the $1K in the safe....just make sure to watch her enter the code 😉

 

Loving your thread 👍🙏

[graphicguy]

9 hours ago, Shadow9612 said:

Time to tell your GF that you want to add the $140 to the $1K in the safe....just make sure to watch her enter the code 😉

 

Loving your thread 👍🙏

Shhhhh!!!!  It’s in my wallet!

 

Happy you enjoy them!

[graphicguy]

Last night’s frivolities…..

[graphicguy]

Eden for nightcaps…..

[graphicguy]

Today’s agenda…we’re docked in St Kitts.  Saw this ship outside our balcony this a.m.  We’re going on some sort of excursion she booked.  Not exactly sure what, where, when!!!!

Edited March 1, 2022 by graphicguy

[graphicguy]

Didn’t know about this…muffins and coffee in the Theater while waiting for disembarkation!  Nice touch.  

[graphicguy]

Yesterday, we visited St Kitts…first time for us.  Given how many times I had been to the Caribbean, hard to believe I had never caught St Kitts.

 

 Beautiful and mostly unspoiled!  We took a former sugar cane train that was well over a century old (and was rickety enough to believe) around the island.  Fun excursion.

[graphicguy]

So, have been resistant to mention a thorn in my side this cruise (and there are more thorns I will elaborate on later).  But, this one has really frosted me.

 

This is not the fault of Celebrity, but they certainly could have handled it better (true of many things I’ll elaborate on later).  
 

There was an ink pen packed in my carryon with a little note book I use for details I need to remind myself of.

 

It burst/leaked during the flight.  The closest clothing to the offending pen were my long pants.  Tried to wash them in the shower, no luck.  Ship cleaning service?  No luck.

 

Luminae allowed me to dine for dinner in shorts once I explained the situation.  Until, last night, when the Maitre’D informed us she had a complaint about me wearing shorts to dinner.  I chalk this up to someone being more worried about me, than them.  Understand, no one has been dressed formally any night.  
 

OK….just head to the MDR.  No shorts, there either.

 

We ended up dining in the buffet…which was actually quite good….seafood was better than we had in Luminae to begin with.

 

I get it.  Policy is policy.  
 

So, maybe whomever complained won’t mind me showing up tonight in my khakis with about an 11”x3” blue ink splotch on my pants!

 

[graphicguy]

Good magician last night…

[graphicguy]

Little late night wandering..

 

 

[graphicguy]

Docked in St Kitts….

[graphicguy]

Outside our balcony this a.m.

 

St Thomas…

 

 

[Schmoe38]

34 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

So, have been resistant to mention a thorn in my side this cruise (and there are more thorns I will elaborate on later).  But, this one has really frosted me.

 

This is not the fault of Celebrity, but they certainly could have handled it better (true of many things I’ll elaborate on later).  
 

There was an ink pen packed in my carryon with a little note book I use for details I need to remind myself of.

 

It burst/leaked during the flight.  The closest clothing to the offending pen were my long pants.  Tried to wash them in the shower, no luck.  Ship cleaning service?  No luck.

 

Luminae allowed me to dine for dinner in shorts once I explained the situation.  Until, last night, when the Maitre’D informed us she had a complaint about me wearing shorts to dinner.  I chalk this up to someone being more worried about me, than them.  Understand, no one has been dressed formally any night.  
 

OK….just head to the MDR.  No shorts, there either.

 

We ended up dining in the buffet…which was actually quite good….seafood was better than we had in Luminae to begin with.

 

I get it.  Policy is policy.  
 

So, maybe whomever complained won’t mind me showing up tonight in my khakis with about an 11”x3” blue ink splotch on my pants!

 

If you would like to help with that thorn in your side, dampen the area, try some “white” toothpaste or hairspray on the stain and blot out the stain…don’t rub it out! I had a pen leak through the pocket of a sports jacket one time and my wife came to the rescue with the toothpaste. Stain no more!
 

If that works, please post a picture of you walking slowly and proudly into Luminae. Hopefully you will catch the eye of your “whistleblower.”

 

Good Luck

 

Randy

[r2h2]

They do sell mens pants on the ship or you could pickup a pair in St. Thomas...

[Tyler414]

Plenty of places in St Thomas to find a pair of pants....I do sympathize with you about the shorts in dinning rooms.  I get it, wear nice attire to dinner, I have nicer shorts than pants and can put together a very nice looking outfit wearing shorts.  Your on vacation in the Caribbean with warm weather, that is one thing I like about NCL.  End of rant 🙂 

[39august]

You should speak with the Retreat concierge about this, and the suite manager. No way you should be required to buy pants! This shorts exception should be made for the duration of your cruise.