Just off Apex (Retreat). Any questions?

[micmacmissy]

33 minutes ago, farawayatsea said:

Did you hear of any Covid cases during the cruise?

Yeah a whole bunch.  40+ in crew alone. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

2 minutes ago, cruzer0007 said:

 

Thanks for confirming, I view that as good news, and I hope it stays that way (for the improved overall general health of all cruisers).  I do like to get my own helpings but in our new normal, I would much rather know things are "safer" and protocols are followed, and I am willing to wait to be served.  I know RCL has moved back toward self serve in their buffet, I was wondering if/when Celebrity would follow that change ...

 

My best guess is when X made the decision to staff-serve the buffet it was always supposed to be temporary.  Bean-counters aren't doing their job if they're not constantly asking if they've gone back to self-serve.  I've been on four sailings since the restart and have stated to keep the staff-serve buffet and to become a wifi speed leader as its sufficiently slower than Princess and Virgin Voyages.  Don't think enough people are putting that into their post sailing surveys.

[micmacmissy]

24 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

My best guess is when X made the decision to staff-serve the buffet it was always supposed to be temporary.  Bean-counters aren't doing their job if they're not constantly asking if they've gone back to self-serve.  I've been on four sailings since the restart and have stated to keep the staff-serve buffet and to become a wifi speed leader as its sufficiently slower than Princess and Virgin Voyages.  Don't think enough people are putting that into their post sailing surveys.

Good point!  I will put that on my survey!

[schittenden]

6 hours ago, micmacmissy said:

Just that you couldn’t get certain places from certain sets of stairs.  Felt choppy with the martini bar location.  Ship was gorgeous though. 

I guess I'm used to that.  The Camp at Sea/Club Ocean/etc almost always was in a location that could only be accessed from certain elevators.  Either because there was a galley in the way on the deck or because it was on a top deck that wasn't contiguous for the entire ship.  We've been cruising with my son since before he was 1 (he's now 10), so we have lots of practice navigating our way to those locations.  I particularly liked that you could move from one end to the other on deck 4 without having to navigate through the casino (even though we spent a ton of time there anyhow).

[schittenden]

5 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

My best guess is when X made the decision to staff-serve the buffet it was always supposed to be temporary.  Bean-counters aren't doing their job if they're not constantly asking if they've gone back to self-serve.  I've been on four sailings since the restart and have stated to keep the staff-serve buffet and to become a wifi speed leader as its sufficiently slower than Princess and Virgin Voyages.  Don't think enough people are putting that into their post sailing surveys.

Made both points in our survey.  The basic Internet service is barely usable.  The premium is better, but I don't know how they think it's the fastest at sea.

[Ang108]

6 hours ago, micmacmissy said:

Eden was fully booked so we couldn’t have dinner there and didn’t see any shows in there.  Eden was fully booked before anyone stepped onboard.  Told they serve 40 per night.  

We were on the same sailing and luckily was able to get on the wait list as soon as we got on the ship. We got a voicemail that same day confirming we were able to get a reservation later in the week. Surprisingly, when we got to Eden, there were plenty of open tables near us that were not occupied for the rest of the night. Overall, it was the best dinner we had on the cruise. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

35 minutes ago, schittenden said:

Made both points in our survey.  The basic Internet service is barely usable.  The premium is better, but I don't know how they think it's the fastest at sea.

 

Not to get anyone's hopes up, pure speculation that because X scrubbed "xcelerate" (deployed starting in 2016) from the Wi-Fi name, they'll be improving the Wi-Fi speed starting with the Beyond.

[Ang108]

40 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Not to get anyone's hopes up, pure speculation that because X scrubbed "xcelerate" (deployed starting in 2016) from the Wi-Fi name, they'll be improving the Wi-Fi speed starting with the Beyond.

I was able to stream Netflix using the premium WiFi on my phone and use Chromecast to connect it on the stateroom TV and it worked pretty well. It took a couple minutes to load in the beginning but it was good after that. 

[ian441672]

21 hours ago, schittenden said:

Casino definitely didn’t like us either. We quite liked the ship layout though. What did you find odd about it?

Normally it hates me too. Luck must have been shining on us last July on Apex's 3rd cruise out, and only 600 pax.  Not only did I win the spot machine prize for gentleman (I  think I had a 1 in 5 chance!) of a bottle of expensive eau de something, but on the last night I pulled a $1100 dollar spin on one of the fruit machines. Despite their instance I had to pay tax on it, I had to prove I was UK and it was all tax free! Lovely end to a marvellous cruise. Cant wait to go back next year on our trip to Iceland, but I don't think I will be so lucky next time!

[mac_tlc]

16 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

My best guess is when X made the decision to staff-serve the buffet it was always supposed to be temporary.  Bean-counters aren't doing their job if they're not constantly asking if they've gone back to self-serve.  I've been on four sailings since the restart and have stated to keep the staff-serve buffet and to become a wifi speed leader as its sufficiently slower than Princess and Virgin Voyages.  Don't think enough people are putting that into their post sailing surveys.

On all our 4 E class sailings since the restart, I have mentioned on the survey how abysmal the internet is, and we have had “stream”. Spotty, slow and you can’t even do a Speedtest. Not really worthy of the flagship of the fleet. 
 

mac_tlc

[LXA350]

Who is currently the Captain and Hotel director onboard?

[KurtMo]

17 hours ago, micmacmissy said:

Did you hear of any Covid cases during the cruise?

Captain announced during the 4/9 Apex cruise that 9 passengers and 37 crew had tested positive or were in quarantine.  I suspect there will always be a few folks that the "test 2 days ahead" routine just misses (probably get exposed traveling to the pier); I think testing at the pier would be a bit better, but this is probably life for the next year or so as Covid becomes endemic instead of pandemic.  Some folks wore masks onboard, most did not.  We took the stairs 95% of the time (I realize not everybody has that as a practical option) and avoided elevators.  We felt very safe onboard.  Crew was always cleaning and ship was quite stunning, with interesting art.

Edited April 17, 2022 by KurtMo

[C-Dragons]

19 hours ago, micmacmissy said:

Lord.  In Luminae one guy complaining to every server that he was told to put on pants.  He whined through dinner.  

 

Another couple asked to see the chef and then proceeded to lecture the poor guy about the proper way to make gluten free pancakes. 

 

Numerous people not wanting to wait at Retreat pool bar for service.  

 

Finally:  really jerky people chair hogging.  Overheard a guest in the retreat complaining to a retreat attendant:  “I set my alarm at 6am to reserve chairs and the good ones were all gone!”

 

 Our waiter even commented how poorly they’ve been treated.  

 

18 hours ago, Reel Love said:

Oh my  😴   The staff work so hard and then to have to put up with this nonsense!   So sad to read the comment by the waiter about being treated poorly.....

Though I'm not sure it would change anything, perhaps those guests should read X's Conduct Policy. 

Edited April 17, 2022 by C-Dragons

[Veinless]

Can suite guests board at whatever time or do they need to adhere to the half hour window selected during checkin?

[tonyinoc]

On 4/16/2022 at 10:31 AM, txtechmk said:

I understand that Eden is also open for lunch and breakfast.  Were you able to check that out?  Do you need reservations for that?  We will be on the Apex for the first time next month and want to try Eden, but would settle for a good lunch there.  

Tip if you want Eden Book it now its amazing if you wait till you get on the ship you will probably not get one - I was on April 9th cruising and the food there is great 

[tonyinoc]

9 minutes ago, Veinless said:

Can suite guests board at whatever time or do they need to adhere to the half hour window selected during checkin?

I was on last week and had a 12 noon boarding time but because we had a rental car to return and no where to wait we got there at 11 am and we walked right on .. took us into the suite lounge, Sat us down they came to us took our picture while we sat down and before we even had time to grab some food they told us we could board 

[tonyinoc]

2 hours ago, KurtMo said:

Captain announced during the 4/9 Apex cruise that 9 passengers and 37 crew had tested positive or were in quarantine.  I suspect there will always be a few folks that the "test 2 days ahead" routine just misses (probably get exposed traveling to the pier); I think testing at the pier would be a bit better, but this is probably life for the next year or so as Covid becomes endemic instead of pandemic.  Some folks wore masks onboard, most did not.  We took the stairs 95% of the time (I realize not everybody has that as a practical option) and avoided elevators.  We felt very safe onboard.  Crew was always cleaning and ship was quite stunning, with interesting art.

there was some , I was on a behind the ship tour . and as we where about to go on the bridge. they stopped us. Told us that there was some Covid cases and they wanted to protect the bridge crew.. but after a few minutes they said if we all stayed away from the crew and kept our distance they let us in . they canceled other behind the scenes tours they told us. 

[tonyinoc]

3 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

On all our 4 E class sailings since the restart, I have mentioned on the survey how abysmal the internet is, and we have had “stream”. Spotty, slow and you can’t even do a Speedtest. Not really worthy of the flagship of the fleet. 
 

mac_tlc

this was the second Time i been on the Apex and I have not really had a problem with the high end package . My daughters where streaming netlfix to the TV every night and i myself was able to stream sports like F1 and EPL .. did not have any time where i felt it was slow 

[TFree]

35 minutes ago, tonyinoc said:

there was some , I was on a behind the ship tour . and as we where about to go on the bridge. they stopped us. Told us that there was some Covid cases and they wanted to protect the bridge crew.. but after a few minutes they said if we all stayed away from the crew and kept our distance they let us in . they canceled other behind the scenes tours they told us. 

Did you consider the Behind the Scenes Apex tour (I assume that was the one) to be worthwhile?  I have it booked for one of our upcoming cruises, but was wondering.  We have the Apex Exposed tour booked on the other one, and I wonder about that one as well.

 

Tom & Judy

[LGW59]

5 minutes ago, TFree said:

Did you consider the Behind the Scenes Apex tour (I assume that was the one) to be worthwhile?  I have it booked for one of our upcoming cruises, but was wondering.  We have the Apex Exposed tour booked on the other one, and I wonder about that one as well.

 

Tom & Judy

we did behind the scenes on EDGE a few years ago, we felt it was worth every $, really very very interesting to see how the machinations all come together.

[schittenden]

4 hours ago, KurtMo said:

Captain announced during the 4/9 Apex cruise that 9 passengers and 37 crew had tested positive or were in quarantine.  I suspect there will always be a few folks that the "test 2 days ahead" routine just misses (probably get exposed traveling to the pier); I think testing at the pier would be a bit better, but this is probably life for the next year or so as Covid becomes endemic instead of pandemic.  Some folks wore masks onboard, most did not.  We took the stairs 95% of the time (I realize not everybody has that as a practical option) and avoided elevators.  We felt very safe onboard.  Crew was always cleaning and ship was quite stunning, with interesting art.

I tested positive today, the day after departing the Apex. 

[luv2ndhalf]

7 hours ago, tonyinoc said:

this was the second Time i been on the Apex and I have not really had a problem with the high end package . My daughters where streaming netlfix to the TV every night and i myself was able to stream sports like F1 and EPL .. did not have any time where i felt it was slow 

Can I ask how you  streamed Netflix? Did you bring a Fire stick or Roku from home? Thanks

[schittenden]

56 minutes ago, luv2ndhalf said:

Can I ask how you  streamed Netflix? Did you bring a Fire stick or Roku from home? Thanks

You don't have to.  If you have the premium internet package, the TV has a Chromecast built in.  It has instructions for streaming video on the TV, just follow them, and then stream directly from your device.

[tonyinoc]

On 4/17/2022 at 7:10 PM, schittenden said:

You don't have to.  If you have the premium internet package, the TV has a Chromecast built in.  It has instructions for streaming video on the TV, just follow them, and then stream directly from your device.

that is correct as long as the app your are using supports Chromecast . I used F1 Tv the girls used Netflix it worked good .. We did have the premium package, And I have to stay Netflix had no buffering at all 

 

[tonyinoc]

On 4/17/2022 at 11:25 AM, TFree said:

Did you consider the Behind the Scenes Apex tour (I assume that was the one) to be worthwhile?  I have it booked for one of our upcoming cruises, but was wondering.  We have the Apex Exposed tour booked on the other one, and I wonder about that one as well.

 

Tom & Judy

I took the behind the scenes tour ,, we started in a Restaurant, went through the kitchens and then all the storage rooms .. went to the café 360 for the crew (we where not allowed in )  we went to Engine control room (no videos but we could take pictures) went down the I-95 corridor did go up on the bridge and finally went down to the laundry room . I will put together a video when i have that time and share it