Apex Wester Caribbean - Nov 12-19 - Live

[carolina_yankee]

Day 7 - Sea Day

 

We were used to last day of cruise being Disney's Castaway Cay which was always a bummer - I wanted to enjoy the ship some more and it is also packing day. I like having sea days as our last days - something we enjoyed very much on our Disney Bermuda cruise!

 

TL;DR - We liked Shawna's "Life with Celebrity" talk, I finished up my slots credit and broke even (but spent it anyway), packed easily, and final acupuncture, wasn't aware DH gave arm and leg for spa purchase, and had a fantastic final dinner at Eden.

 

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So - this was sort of a "run around the ship and catch the last few things to do" day. After an OceanView breakfast, two of us went to the Theater for Shawna's presentation on what it's like to work for Celebrity. She covered various areas - nothing particularly salacious other than hints of salaciousness!

 

Anyway - she showed pictures of different crew cabins. You could go from a bunkbed situation to a private room with a shared (tiny) bath with another private room. Managers and officers got better accommodations, of course.

 

Even crew members have missed the ship, and they really don't want to do that! On one ship, one passenger was late - a single woman who was taking her first cruise. The Captain decided to wait and gave updates every 30 minutes. The whole ship was concerned for the "woman lost on her own." They had tracked down which private excursion she was on and they said they had dropped her off at the port but then the rail disappeared. At 8:30 pm, the Captain came on and gave a terse, "We're leaving." As the ship left port, Shawna called down to friends to find out what had happened - apparently the cruiser had racked up quite the Casino debit and room charges and simply left the ship. We were assured she was later found by Celebrity. 🙂 I suspect she won't be sailing again.

 

We also learned about pirate training for cruises off of Somalia - the ships go in a convey (all lights off, etc.) and are instructed to zig-zag if approached. While the risk of pirates boarding is small given the size of the ships, crew are instructed to throw deck furniture at them if they manage to get ropes onto the ship. She said it was always an interesting experience!

 

It was a rough day and the ship was definitely rolling, particularly forward. During Q&A, Captain Nickolas was asked if the stabilizers were working. He gave a terse, "Yes."  Then someone asked if they were the right stabilizers for the ship. He gave another terse, "Yes." Then a third question - finally he explained the whole stabilizer thing and promised us it would be worse without them! Celebrity uses larger than recommended for the size of the ship.  He also promised us that captains do everything they can to avoid rough seas when possible.

 

Other than that exchange - he was very present and friendly throughout the whole cruise.

 

I then went to the Casino and used up the rest of my credit on the slots - I learned to not wait until the last day as the line to cash out was incredibly long so I played the remaining vouchers. Overall, if I had kept all the vouchers, I would have broken even. Next cruise I'll venture into table games.

 

I'll save the accupuncture/spa story for its own post.

 

Our final dinner at Eden was really nice - we had an 8 pm reservation which gave us time to see Rockumentary at 7 pm, which was perfect for us. It was a really well done. Even DH loved it, and his concept of of '70s music is "1670s" (Well, actually Bach, but anyway.)

 

We had the same table and servers as before. Dining twice gave us the chance to try different items on the menu this time, which we all appreciated. Pro Tip: The Eden dinner chairs are not the most comfortable - they can cut right behind the knees. Our preferred table had booth seating on one side and chair seating on the other. The chairs do have cushions which can solve the problem, but if your legs are a certain length, you might prefer the booth.

 

And, I realize I didn't give a full Eden review since I never covered Monday - Day 3 - so I will add that (with pictures) in another post.  I can vouch for both their Meyer Lemon Tart and Azteca Chocolate Cake for desserts - both are truly outstanding. Their shrimp appetizer is some of the best shrimp I have ever had. I love my lamb tenderloin and DH loved both fish dishes. Our server did a good job of steering us to what he thought was freshest and best.

 

After a walk around, it was time for bed and disembarkation the next morning.

 

 

 

[Mrs_Tiki]

On 11/22/2022 at 8:38 AM, carolina_yankee said:

Thank you for your kindness, too. We didn't show up at any of the gatherings that we heard about but did keep our eyes out. I hope you had a great cruise.  Just test this morning, and five days out - still negative and no symptoms so I think we survived!

Your review is wonderful and is a great way to relive a great week! We did have a nice cruise, although work encroached for me a bit. Others might be interested that Premium Internet Package performed very well for sending/receiving emails EXCEPT for the last sea day, when it was almost inoperable. The first sea day was a Sunday, so I wasn't trying to work then, but my experience was that the best time for internet usage for me - pre-Starlink - was in the mornings when the ship was in port.

 

Sadly, I was not as fortunate as you with avoiding COVID. I started feeling a bit "off" yesterday and took a test today as a precaution before traveling to see family. I was disappointed to get a positive result that has derailed Thanksgiving plans, but grateful that I feel OK so far.

[carolina_yankee]

54 minutes ago, Mrs_Tiki said:

Your review is wonderful and is a great way to relive a great week! We did have a nice cruise, although work encroached for me a bit. Others might be interested that Premium Internet Package performed very well for sending/receiving emails EXCEPT for the last sea day, when it was almost inoperable. The first sea day was a Sunday, so I wasn't trying to work then, but my experience was that the best time for internet usage for me - pre-Starlink - was in the mornings when the ship was in port.

 

Sadly, I was not as fortunate as you with avoiding COVID. I started feeling a bit "off" yesterday and took a test today as a precaution before traveling to see family. I was disappointed to get a positive result that has derailed Thanksgiving plans, but grateful that I feel OK so far.

 

Oh, no! I’m so sorry about COVID. I think today is Day 5, so technically I’m probably OK, but one never knows. We actually have a small Thanksgiving planned. I hate that your plans have been upended.

 

I was fairly pleased with Premium overall - we streamed several YouTube videos (our typical “bedtime wind-down”) without any problems and I started a Netflix movie, which streamed well. However, when it was bad - it was bad! That last sea day was indeed a challenge. We also had a challenge our first and second nights, but we think those were times everybody was also trying to get on and test their service. 

 

I hope you don’t have severe symptoms and quickly get back to normal!

[carolina_yankee]

Day 8 - Disembarkation

 

First, why do they dare to cal it Day 8?!! Having breakfast and getting off the ship does not a day make!

 

Anyway - We virtually ignored disembarkation planning. They sent a reminder through the app to take care of our preferences, but we didn’t. We were assigned Group 10 at 8:10 am. We were to wait in Eden on Deck 5 once we cleared our room, but since rooms had to be empty by 8, that wasn’t really an issue. We decided to keep our bags in case we were leaving early. Our friends had too many bags for that because they could drive. Their assigned time was 8:40.

 

Our flight was at Noon, so we figured there wouldn’t be a problem. Well, there could have been, but we were lucky.

 

I was pleased that the buffet was open for full service from 6 am to 8:30 am. We got up there for our last breakfast at 6:30. We hugged our friends goodby and headed dow to our room at 7:15 to grab our things. Mail was in our door, but it was for the next couple, instead of us! Sigh - not gone but totally forgotten.

 

We decided to just walk off since we have lounge privileges at the airport, and I’m glad we did. At 7:40 - it was a total breeze with no lines for immigration - just a face scan and done. We had our bags, so no need to wait for luggage. Interestingly, luggage was already listed as available for our group.

 

We went to the taxis and, again, no line, so were at the airport and through security by 8:30 for 11:20 boarding. We settled ourselves in the United Club only to find a few minutes later that our incoming flight had a delayed departure. All in all, we were pushed back 1 1/2 hours and the lounge over-filled. Again, glad we were there early and in our chairs.

 

Our friends weren’t as lucky. By the time they disembarked, there were lines for everything. Once they went for a taxi (they left their car at home), there was an argument between the sheriffs and port guides as to whether taxis could pick up on the sidewalk or you had to cross over to the median.

 

It didn’t matter becuase there were no taxis. Not only was there a jam-up letting taxis and ride share into the port without passengers, when they did get in, the went to closer terminals than Terminal 25. It took our friends 90 minutes to get a taxi.  I’m soooo glad that wasn’t us.

 

My advice - if you are at Terminal 25 and plan on using a taxi or ride share, disembark on your own as early as possible. Six ships were unloading - so there was high demand. In fact, Uber’s surge-pricing was $75 to central FLL at one point. Otherwise, use your own transportation, con a friend, or take Celebrity’s arranged service.

 

We were back home in Freehold, NJ on our sofa to binge The Crown over Chinese dinner with  by 6:30 pm.

 

[carolina_yankee]

Celebrity Thoughts

 

The Cruise Line

I’m very pleased Celebrity was our first post-Disney ocean cruise. We could easily sail them again. The service was every bit what I expected and the fellow passengers were great. We use a travel agent, but mostly handle the details ourselves. It was all very easy. 

 

The Ship - Apex

We liked the ship and its modern feel. There are indeed trade-offs. I like the traditional ship layout with a grand atrium, a promenade deck, and access to bow views. I definitely want to try Solstice Class. However, we did enjoy the ship very much and basically let itinerary and entertainment be our deciding factors. 

 

The room tech mostly worked well for us, except I could never get the phone-lock to work. My Apple Pay kept popping up every time I held my phone next to the lock reader.  So, I just used my keycard, which I could keep in the little card wallet they give you.

 

The room was extremely comfortable and well let. It is ridiculous to have electricity on one side of the bed and not the other, but we adapted. The bathroom was well laid out and worked excellently for us. Honestly, while the split baths on DCL have their plusses, they feel confining compared to the X full baths. The shower was totally comfortable.

 

I’m surprised that I didn’t really lounge around anywhere on the ship to read our surf outside of our stateroom except for Cafe Al Baccio. On DCL, we often took the loungers in the Promenade Deck for the whole afternoon.

 

I would not pay for a cabana on the Apex. Too exposed for what you get and the money, and probably not that comfortable.

 

Infinite Verandas

I would definitely grade them as a stop up from Ocean View and agree they aren’t balconies or verandas. However, none of that mattered as long as we could open the window. It was locked twice as far as we could tell - once in port for cleaning and once for rough seas. We enjoyed the extra space the IV gave us.  While the room did warm up, we could sit with the window open for a good 60-90 minutes before deciding we’re done.

 

Basically, they are Panaroma View rooms with a window that opens. I can make that work for me, so IV’s will never be a deterrent from booking - again, we would look at itinerary, entertainment, and price rather than IV vs. traditional balcony. I don’t think I would book OV since we did stay inside a lot and I want access to sea air and wake sounds. We have booked OV on Disney and would easily do it again for the right price and itinerary.

 

Dining & Food

We dined in Eden twice, Rooftop Grill, Le Petit Chef, Normandie, and Tuscan. Of all of those Rooftop Grill disappointed the most followed by Normandie. Personally, I think the Grill should have more to offer and I think there food could have richer flavor. Two people in our party were happy, but probably not enough to pay to go back.  Normandie’s issues were mostly new staff still learning and a crab cake that was worthy of the frozen food aisle. Everything else was good to very enjoyable.

 

I think we would easily do Le Petit Chef again - we all felt it was much better than Disney’s Animator’s Palate, either version (Magic or Fantasy). We enjoyed the show and the food was really good. They could offer a bit more on the menu since the courses aren’t locked in to the presentation on the Apex, but if they mix it up every now and then, it would be very repeatable for us.

 

Eden was fantastic and a must-do in our book. We really want to try to Cyprus. I’m up for the Fine Cut Steakhouse, but I do need to be convinced it’s worth the $60. Every morning in the buffet, the FC manager came through asking people to book so something is off there.

 

We ate all breakfasts and most lunches in Ocean View. We felt the food was very good for a buffet. Once we found the poached eggs, we stayed with them - always runny so plenty of Eggs Benedict on this cruise!  Seating can be a challenge but we had our tricks for our preferences and ended up by a window nearly every time. It would be nice if the bar server came through a little more frequently - I essentially grabbed my beverage on wintering, claimed a table to set it down and went back for food.

 

Entertainment

We all enjoyed everything we saw at some level. Antonio Salci is an act I never want to see again, though. Just a little too full of himself for a performance that just wasn’t that great. The Celebrity Orchestra was great. We loved Charity Lockhart’s two concerts and never got around to her partner’s comedy show, though we wanted to. Just not enough time! We regret missing Caravan.

 

Shawna, the CD, mentioned, several time that X had taken their production shows in house and have the largest rehearsal space in the country in Miami. If this quality spreads to the other ships and isn’t just for the new ships, I’m not worried. As always, a bad actor or musician can spoil it, and a couple could have been replaced with better, but nothing to say “Nope, mistake, can’t do it.”

 

I was impressed that the Captain attended every performance. The guest performers noted it, too, and thanked him for his support.

 

This never happened on a Disney ship - the Captain was the Captain and a mysterious, distant presence. I like X’s captains - they are professionals, but also help to create the vibe.

 

Conclusion

I appreciate the wisdom I learned from everyone here.

 

We may or may not book concierge again, depending on price. I don’t think the perks were worth it - though we enjoyed the canapés. We just didn’t have room for them sometimes!  It’s clearly for the extra points for us if the stateroom is otherwise identical. We didn’t even order room service once, not even the expanded breakfast. I like to get up and get out to enjoy the ship before the masses do.

 

There are some bumps from staffing - but I’m chalking that up to pandemic rather than cuts. As newcomers, we can otherwise roll with pretty much everything we encountered. 

 

And finally, to be honest, except for the Disney theming, I don’t think Disney has anything special to offer anymore that other premium lines don’t. They may not have been the case when DCL first started, but everything was as professional, elegant, and guest-friendly as I would expect Disney to be - and for half the price. That’s why I laugh when people complain about the prices! Sorry, Mickey.

 

Again, photos are being edited - I promise to add them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 23, 2022 by carolina_yankee

[mermee]

Thank you, great review

 

[keplerd]

Appreciate the review! Lots of good tips; sailing in March! Our first time on Celebrity too. 

[calicakes]

On 11/15/2022 at 9:27 AM, carolina_yankee said:

We joined our friends for the LGBTQ+ meet-up in Eden

I'm glad they've dropped the " Friends of Dorothy" moniker.  When my wife and I showed up for one of those meetups way back in 2015, we were the only ones who showed. 

[boxkite]

Thanks for the great review!

 

Looking forward to the pictures once they are ready.

[CruisingGatorGirl]

Thank you for the review. I love the Disney comparisons. Our last X cruises were on Solstice and Equinox (ten years ago), we then had a baby and covid happened and we switched to Ritz Carltons then Disney cruise. We just booked the Apex for next year (just us- no toddler!!!!) so I loved your review! 

 

1 thing that really stood out to me about Disney was the customer service, truly amazing, how would you compare the customer service level? Also, the cleanliness. Not sure if it is because of Covid, but we could not get over how clean the Fantasy was. 

 

I am glad you mentioned the rough seas. How much could you feel in your cabin? We booked deck 7, mid ship, hoping it will help. I always get sea sick but I love to cruise so I just deal with it. 

Edited December 4, 2022 by CruisingGatorGirl

[cruisequeen4ever]

On 12/3/2022 at 4:44 PM, CruisingGatorGirl said:

Thank you for the review. I love the Disney comparisons. Our last X cruises were on Solstice and Equinox (ten years ago), we then had a baby and covid happened and we switched to Ritz Carltons then Disney cruise. We just booked the Apex for next year (just us- no toddler!!!!) so I loved your review! 

 

1 thing that really stood out to me about Disney was the customer service, truly amazing, how would you compare the customer service level? Also, the cleanliness. Not sure if it is because of Covid, but we could not get over how clean the Fantasy was. 

 

I am glad you mentioned the rough seas. How much could you feel in your cabin? We booked deck 7, mid ship, hoping it will help. I always get sea sick but I love to cruise so I just deal with it. 

It’s nice to see you back; you were one of the best bloggers on here! Congrats on the baby and hope you blog your next cruise!

[jmdlv1]

Thank you for the great review.

Sailing on Apex 12/23  and appreciate your dining reviews .

We have Eden and Fine cut booked so far.Still deciding about Rooftop.

 

[CruisingGatorGirl]

On 12/11/2022 at 6:16 PM, cruisequeen4ever said:

It’s nice to see you back; you were one of the best bloggers on here! Congrats on the baby and hope you blog your next cruise!

Thank you!! I appreciate the kind remark. I hope to journal our next cruise, and finish it! Happy Holidays!