Live on the Apex March 18-25, 2023

[garyl62]

4 minutes ago, bookitdanno said:

@garyl62 Thanks for the great review and especially the pics.

Since every place seems to have their own definition of how done a steak is, can I ask how you ordered that filet to be done?

TIA

Thanks. I don't post a lot of food photos, but every so often they help with the story. I always order medium rare. It may look a little rarer than it was in person, but was right on the temperature I was looking for. 

[garyl62]

On 3/18/2023 at 4:09 PM, sea mom said:

Can you please post the beer selection menu at Craft Social.

 

Thanks and safe travels.

Here's the entire menu. I don't recall seeing it posted previously so hopefully everyone can find something they like. I asked if they had everything and without going through it line by line they said had almost anything but there were a few out of stock this cruise.  If you need anything else let me know. 

 

[binro01]

6 hours ago, garyl62 said:

Here's the entire menu

Thanks!!! All I have to say is.. That Chimay Grande Reserve is a bit... Overpriced LOL. I love that beer, but I get it regularly for about $17 bucks locally for the 750 ml corked bottle. I know.. It's not on a ship.. But a local craft beer joint by me has it regularly on their menu for about $39.99 Which I consider fare for an establishment.. 85..Well I love it, but I don't love it that much! 🙂

[Moochi]

12 minutes ago, binro01 said:

Thanks!!! All I have to say is.. That Chimay Grande Reserve is a bit... Overpriced LOL. I love that beer, but I get it regularly for about $17 bucks locally for the 750 ml corked bottle. I know.. It's not on a ship.. But a local craft beer joint by me has it regularly on their menu for about $39.99 Which I consider fare for an establishment.. 85..Well I love it, but I don't love it that much! 🙂

It is $13.99 at Whole Foods so the $85 onboard price is...very high. I'm impressed Apex has it though. 

[sea mom]

Thank you for posting the Beer Menu.

[Cruise a holic]

We sailed the week before you.  A great ship with a wonderful staff.  We especially loved dinner at Eden- dined twice their.  I loved the suite lounge and retreat deck!  Concierge ladies, Elana, Jet and Carolyne wonderful!  I am sure they are treating you well!

[PTC DAWG]

10 hours ago, binro01 said:

Thanks!!! All I have to say is.. That Chimay Grande Reserve is a bit... Overpriced LOL. I love that beer, but I get it regularly for about $17 bucks locally for the 750 ml corked bottle. I know.. It's not on a ship.. But a local craft beer joint by me has it regularly on their menu for about $39.99 Which I consider fare for an establishment.. 85..Well I love it, but I don't love it that much! 🙂

I'm thinking the logistics/costs are a bit different on a ship than on land, but that's just me.  

 

Back on point, thanks for the review, Apex is a great ship. 

Edited March 21, 2023 by PTC DAWG

[Bookdiva]

Nice report, Gary! The entertainment on board has been our salvation due to the heavy clouds and rain!😡 no chair hogs on this cruise! 😂all the shows and entertainers are fantastic! Hoping for sunshine tomorrow. Few are even getting off in Belize due to weather. Our tour was cancelled. Having a coffee in Luminae lounge right now and scheduled massages. 

[garyl62]

Sorry it's been a day since I've posted anything,  Yesterday we did a behind the scenes tour and saw the typical tour spots of laundry, engine control room, galley, liquor storage, trash containment and then ended on up to the bridge. It was interesting as we had never done this tour on an Edge class before. Shortly after that we did a behind the scenes tour of the theater which was very interesting. Highlight was learning about the video wall and the fact that it can completely move for when they are bringing in large props. 

 

Last night we went back to Fine Cut and our waiter Mushi went above and beyond. When we sat down he said "you pick your starters and I will take care of the rest". Well we weren't sure what to expect but we started with shrimp cocktail and a Caesar salad and  then he brought out the main course of the 30 oz Tomahawk steak and a 9 oz Fillet in addition to the lobster trail on a seafood ravioli.  He also brought 4 sides which took up all the room on our table! Once again the steaks were fabulous and obviously plenty of food for the 2 of us.

 

 

 

 

 

 Today we are tendering to Belize  the weather has been questionable. Times of great sunshine other times of spotty showers that were strong enough to soak everything.  We ended up canceling our short excursion due to the weather and just took the tender into port for a short visit. After that we came back and spent some time around the retreat pool And just relax to.   

 

Tonight we had "Magic Carpet- Dinner on The Edge" booked  But they postponed it to tomorrow night due to the weather. As a side note, when the dinner tonight was postponed, Mushi called our cabin and told us there would always be a spot available at Fine Cut for us tonight if we wanted to come back since our plans were upset. Such excellent customer service! 

 

We ended up in Luminae and had a nice dinner where we selected the short ribs for our entrée. Had good conversation with our neighbors and are looking forward to heading to the late show soon.

 

 

[terrydtx]

Gary, I am enjoying your blog, we will be on the Apex in September in Amsterdam sailing to Athens. We are in a Sky Suite and look forward to the Retreat deck and lounge. Has the Retreat deck been open for lunch on port days?

Edited March 22, 2023 by terrydtx

[boxkite]

Following along your excellent cruise adventure and enjoy your posts Gary!

 

Have a great rest of the cruise!

[AnnemarieC76]

@garyl62 Really enjoying your posts - thank you!  We are on the Apex next week and I am looking to book in November on the Apex again for the itinerary you are doing now...so this is double helpful

[Mimiya11]

Enjoying your review.  We were on the Apex last month in AQ suite and will be in a SS for a TA in November.  So am also interested in your review of the Retreat deck, lounge and spaces.     

 

Loved the ship and all the various spaces.

 

While we didn't try Fine Cut, we loved Eden and already booked it for November!   Fine Cut looks like another must do.  

 

If you haven't tried yet, Eden Cafe is a great little spot for lunch when the Luminae is not open.     

 

[garyl62]

I will try to get caught up for the last couple of days while I have some time now.

 

Date 4 we decided to skip the show at the last minute and instead just came back to our cabin early.

 

So starting out now with day 5 in Cozumel we enjoyed breakfast on our balcony again and since we had no plans or excursions set up we just spend more time on board before heading into the port area for some shopping. 

 

We came back on board and had lunch at raw on 5 which was good however the service seemed very disjointed. Our food came in waves and our waitress said as soon as an item was ready she was bringing it out to us. The problem was we had ordered both hot dishes and some sushi rolls.  The hot dishes didn't come until about 35 minutes after the sushi arrived so it was an awkward process to eat since  DW had ordered the hot dish. I waited a bit but eventually ate my lunch and she ate hers after I was done.

 

 We just hung out on board for the afternoon found a couple of quiet spots and did some reading and just relaxed. Our Dinner on The Edge was schedule for 7 PM so we grabbed a couple seats at the martini bar early and then at the appropriate time headed to the magic carpet.

 

 When we got there they were busy clearing all the tables and told us that the decision had just been made to cancel again that evening. I understand all the work that goes into it and how they didn't want to take a chance but it was disappointing to not know that until 7 PM. I did manage to grab a couple of photos and confirmed you are served everything on the menu. 

 

 

 We made a quick trip to Luminae and enjoyed dinner there instead. Then went off to the late  production show and wrapped up our night after that. 

 

Today is day 6 and we are at Grand Cayman. I can confirm the only bar that is open is the pool bar and it doesn't appear other bars are keeping notes of drinks to enter later in the day.

 

 Once again we have no plans so we booked a massage for the morning,  then made a quick trip into town and wandered around to see if something caught our eye. Nothing did so we made it back on board and decided to have lunch at Le Grand Bistro.

 

 The afternoon has been slow and I have been sitting out on our balcony enjoying a beautiful day. The one problem is that I can hear the music blaring from one or both of the Carnival ships that are in port with us.

 

Lobster night tonight and then the production show Rockumentary. We're planning to get to Luminae early and then get the early show. After that we probably need to do some shopping because we have a lot of nonrefundable obc due to the things that we've had canceled.

 

Tomorrow is our last day and is a sea day. We're planning to have breakfast, lunch and dinner all at Eden.

 

I'll write a summary review When we get back home and try to answer everyone's questions, but if there's anything else you're wondering about post it soon.

 

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

How are the retreat hosts?  With this being the hubbys 60th, I have a few requests for them. Not much. 
 

Any pointers for me to enjoy my cruise on the Apex for the first time?

 

Checked into our flight and checked out of work!  We are ready!

[garyl62]

2 hours ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

How are the retreat hosts?  With this being the hubbys 60th, I have a few requests for them. Not much. 
 

Any pointers for me to enjoy my cruise on the Apex for the first time?

 

Checked into our flight and checked out of work!  We are ready!

There's 2 or maybe 3 ladies in the Retreat Lounge. They are great! We had several dining reservations and shore excursions we needed to move around and they took care of everything. Your butler can help you too maybe.  One tip since you're in the Retreat would be to go to the lounge before dinner for cocktails. It was always lively and we had some good conversations.

[Jim_Iain]

Nice review Gary.   I know it has been rather disappointing all the cancellations of the Dinner on the Magic Carpet.   Curious how it works?    When looking at the option to book the only day and time available is Day 1 - Fort Lauderdale 10 AM

[garyl62]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Nice review Gary.   I know it has been rather disappointing all the cancellations of the Dinner on the Magic Carpet.   Curious how it works?    When looking at the option to book the only day and time available is Day 1 - Fort Lauderdale 10 AM

 On this schedule Jim they normally planned for it to be on the sailaway from Belize. The seas were rough and it was spitting rain when we left there so they postponed but gave us plenty of notice. The frustration for us came the next day as we were sailing away from Cozumel and only found out it was canceled when we showed up. The start time is 7 PM and they will inform you on the first day which day it will be. 

 

 We planned other specialty dining around that day of Belize. . If you have something planned and there is a conflict the retreat host will probably be able to make changes for you. They got us in restaurants when there was no availability but yet we got in immediately for a prime time reservation. 

[tcmagnum]

12 hours ago, garyl62 said:

 On this schedule Jim they normally planned for it to be on the sailaway from Belize. The seas were rough and it was spitting rain when we left there so they postponed but gave us plenty of notice. The frustration for us came the next day as we were sailing away from Cozumel and only found out it was canceled when we showed up. The start time is 7 PM and they will inform you on the first day which day it will be. 

 

 We planned other specialty dining around that day of Belize. . If you have something planned and there is a conflict the retreat host will probably be able to make changes for you. They got us in restaurants when there was no availability but yet we got in immediately for a prime time reservation. 

Glad Jim asked.  I do think this will be something that we are interested in when we are on the Apex next January or March (can't decide).

May I ask the price?

Love your attitude when things go sideways.

Have a great rest of your cruise.

[garyl62]

12 minutes ago, tcmagnum said:

 

May I ask the price?

 

We booked it before we boarded and I know we got a discount so I don't recall the standard price, but the refund we received was $224 for two of us.

[Jim_Iain]

13 hours ago, garyl62 said:

 On this schedule Jim they normally planned for it to be on the sailaway from Belize. The seas were rough and it was spitting rain when we left there so they postponed but gave us plenty of notice. The frustration for us came the next day as we were sailing away from Cozumel and only found out it was canceled when we showed up. The start time is 7 PM and they will inform you on the first day which day it will be. 

 

 We planned other specialty dining around that day of Belize. . If you have something planned and there is a conflict the retreat host will probably be able to make changes for you. They got us in restaurants when there was no availability but yet we got in immediately for a prime time reservation. 

Thanks Gary.     We will be on for 3 cruises and suspect the TA may be a good choice.   Our first stop is Bermuda and they may schedule that for the event.

[Jim_Iain]

For the 4/15 prices are as below.   Just checked TA and they aren't offering it - at least pre-sail.  Gary may have booked before they raised prices.    With tip and discount now $140pp

 

[garyl62]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Thanks Gary.     We will be on for 3 cruises and suspect the TA may be a good choice.   Our first stop is Bermuda and they may schedule that for the event.

 I am not sure how it would work on a TA. I was told they typically pick an area where they feel there will be calm seas and good weather. I think they also try to pick a route where they can travel at a slower speed to reduce the wind yet still make it to the next port on time.

[tcmagnum]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

For the 4/15 prices are as below.   Just checked TA and they aren't offering it - at least pre-sail.  Gary may have booked before they raised prices.    With tip and discount now $140pp

 

Looking at the menu that garyl62 posted, it still looks like a good price.

I do think it is something we will be looking to book.

Thanks for all the information!!  

[Beachlover1989]

Wonderful information Gary! Thanks for sharing!

 

We are on Apex in a CS in August and I was wondering how you feel about the split bathroom?