Celebrity Apex to the Caribbean 2023 - mainly photos for anyone interested

[Dreamer68]

Hello there, I was on the Celebrity Apex to Key West, Belize, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman back in January 2023 to celebrate a milestone anniversary. I had meant to do a trip report but life got super busy following a Covid visit and then later by a death in the family (not connected to the virus). Such is life. I'll blog about my impressions of our trip but I thought some of the photos I took were just too good to keep to myself. The Apex is a STUNNING ship!! I was last on the Summit to Bermuda about 6 or 7 years ago and loved it but omg, the Apex is absolutely GORGEOUS! Especially if you love art. So, I will share mainly photos here. If you have questions, feel free to ask but otherwise as mentioned, I hope to blog about this wonderful trip. Unlike what seems to be the majority, I am not a Luminae/ Concierge/ Aqua club type of cruiser. If I want to splurge, I'd get a balcony stateroom. Otherwise, I'm an Oceanview sailor. I'm an educator with an engineer DH and most of our budget is taken up by long trips to Asia. I was however a TA for 7 years before the kids arrived so we've travelled a decent amount.

 

Starting with Day 1 - embarkation was super easy (15 mins tops at 11:30 am-ish) at Fort Lauderdale. Wonderful day of ship exploration (go for the Spa tour and stay awhile. I had a blast!) We were on Jan.7th cruise and were told we were at about 1/2-2/3 capacity following two FULL capacity ships at Christmas and New Year.

[Dreamer68]

Here's the Spa. How blessed are the folks who can afford this. I had a lovely time visiting!

[Dreamer68]

Spa plus gym/fitness centre located above the spa.

[lola2013]

I am doing the same itinerary on Apex in December.  Looking forward to the rest of your review and photos.  Thanks for taking the time!

Susan 

[Dreamer68]

The APEX has a multitude of gorgeous (and comfortable) seating areas. My favourite spots to be by myself quietly with my book (yes, we exist! LOL!) were at Eden (omg, what a terrific space!) and deck 5 near the boutique stores...and yes, Café al Bacio. I had already liked Café al Bacio on the Summit before it got "revolutionized" but the al Bacio on the Apex...like so much on the ship, this space was just stunning! Here are some of my fave seats... starting with Eden.

[Dreamer68]

Some seats at Café al Bacio and half of my nightly visits to grab a sweet treat. Sorry, not sorry about my waistline expanding during the week. The lemon tartlet is as good as Celebrity fans say it is! ❤️ I loved the chocolate tartlet too and wished I had seen it more often. 

[Dreamer68]

Other gorgeous seating spots and some of the spectacular art on board OUTSIDE the art gallery. Actually, the entire ship IS an art gallery. I took a photo of just about every piece of art on the wall of each staircase but I did not get them all. This was a pretty port-intensive itinerary (for me anyway) and I would have loved to have more time to enjoy the ship. There is an actual book about all the artwork of the Apex. I had a strange adventure attempting to gain access to that book which in the end, I never got to see due to not-so-great customer service by someone at Guest Relations who did not believe me that the book existed. Even the Art Gallery people did not know about it. Strange! Another crew member who noticed me taking photos of the art at staircases had told me about the book.  I felt validated when Cruise Director, the wonderful fellow Canadian, Shawna Hachey mentioned it in her daily video in the last 2 days of the cruise (she is hilarious!) The book is supposedly available at the Retreat...so, mere mortals like me could not get to see it...and since there was no library on the Apex, oh well.... BUT here are  few wonderful pieces...

[Dreamer68]

48 minutes ago, lola2013 said:

I am doing the same itinerary on Apex in December.  Looking forward to the rest of your review and photos.  Thanks for taking the time!

Susan 

I highly recommend the itinerary and the ship...unless people prefer smaller ships. I trust you will enjoy your trip. 🙂

[Dreamer68]

So, should I continue? I'll share photos from the 4 MDRs including some food choices, the theatre and some show videos (all entertaining, some more than others), the outdoor space and of course Oceanview Café. If people are interested, I can share some photos from the excursions we took (one through Celebrity itself).

Now contemplating between the Constellation and the Ascent for a 2024 Mediterranean cruise... surprisingly hard choice.

 

[lola2013]

Yes...please continue!

[Dreamer68]

26 minutes ago, lola2013 said:

Yes...please continue!

Okay, Susan! I will continue tomorrow. 😂🤣 Here are a couple of videos before I go off to bed. This first one is at sailaway. This spot is accessible via the Spa. That's FLL along the horizon as I finish panning.

[Dreamer68]

And this is...another piece of art! I'm not exactly an art aficionado but I felt surrounded by beauty everywhere, some of it very interesting!

[Tina99]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and pics. I’m blissfully booked solo on Apex 1/6/24 same itinerary IV cabin. 

[foodsvcmgr]

Excellent photos, please show and discuss the food and dining options.

 

[BuckeyeMark]

10 hours ago, Dreamer68 said:

So, should I continue? I'll share photos from the 4 MDRs including some food choices, the theatre and some show videos (all entertaining, some more than others), the outdoor space and of course Oceanview Café. If people are interested, I can share some photos from the excursions we took (one through Celebrity itself).

Now contemplating between the Constellation and the Ascent for a 2024 Mediterranean cruise... surprisingly hard choice.

 

KEEP THEM COMING!

[Wendylvs2travel]

Love your pictures, more please 🙏 

[davekathy]

11 hours ago, Dreamer68 said:

I highly recommend the itinerary and the ship...unless people prefer smaller ships. I trust you will enjoy your trip. 🙂

Agree. We did this itinerary on the Apex in March 2023. Thanks for the memories and taking us along on your cruise. 

Edited July 19, 2023 by davekathy

[Altamar]

Yes please post more. We are booked on the beyond next year, first time. Hopefully it is as beautiful as the Apex.

[theopup]

Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts and outstanding photos 

[TheHawk1]

I'm on the Apex with the same itinerary in 2024.  Very interested in your thoughts on each port and what type of excursions you did.

[Dreamer68]

14 hours ago, Tina99 said:

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and pics. I’m blissfully booked solo on Apex 1/6/24 same itinerary IV cabin. 

Oooh....nice!! We considered an IV. We had the traditional balcony on the Summit to Bermuda as we envisioned all this breakfast and tea sitting there looking at the sights but nope. Turns out we are explorers when we get to destination and I barely used my balcony privileges much. So, we chose to allocate our budget elsewhere i.e. excursions (gosh, those are so expensive now via the cruise).

[Dreamer68]

6 hours ago, foodsvcmgr said:

Excellent photos, please show and discuss the food and dining options.

 

Glad you are enjoying the photos. They made me smile as I looked at them again. Will share food and dining options as requested.

[Dreamer68]

2 hours ago, Altamar said:

Yes please post more. We are booked on the beyond next year, first time. Hopefully it is as beautiful as the Apex.

Oooh...the Beyond...with Capt. Kate! We missed her on the Summit...she had gone on leave two weeks before we got on and sadly, the Captain then, did not do the same pass by the Statue of Liberty the way she did as we sailed away from New Jersey.

I am 100% the Beyond is as gorgeous as the Apex. 😍 I had flagged a 2024 Mediterranean cruise on the Beyond a few months ago but that itinerary seems to have been removed from Celebrity's lineup. So, my party and I are now considering a choice between the Ascent and the Constellation (not yet "revolutionized" but "refurbished") based on their routings...

[Dreamer68]

2 hours ago, TheHawk1 said:

I'm on the Apex with the same itinerary in 2024.  Very interested in your thoughts on each port and what type of excursions you did.

Cool! Thanks for inviting my thoughts... I will share what we ended up choosing and doing and why. Most important thing is to know yourself and your interest, I believe. e.g. no matter how much fun someone might have had at a beach club, I am just not a beach club type of traveller, y'know? Happy for those who are but I'll be happier doing something else based on my interest and season of life. Heads up - it's definitely cheaper booking your own excursions vs ship excursions but $$$ should not be the main consideration (says me who has never chosen Aqua or Concierge or Suites 🙃🤭)

[Dreamer68]

So, meetings ended early and I've got some time to kill before mom duties kick in. Here then, are some photos of the outdoor space on the Apex, specifically, the top 2 decks.

As with the rest of the ship, I found this space intentionally designed for function and beauty. Yes, some of the beauty seemed quite "modern" and sometimes even "cold" but the skillful mix of earth tones and nature (fake or real greens and woods) plus geometry and abstract... I don't know, I was quite impressed. I found these decks quite breathtaking and yet comforting. I don't know if you know what I mean. There is opulence in the world that seems overwhelmingly much and then there's classy elegance that is simple yet effective. Here you go, these are the Rooftop Garden (enjoyed TaiChi one morning and watched Top Gun Maverick (for the 4th time) one afternoon - I thought I would not be able to see the picture well on the screen considering it was an outdoor screen on a bright, sunny day but surprisingly, it was fine), the Rooftop Garden Grill and the walking/ jogging tracks (connects one deck to another). BTW - I loved the hints about which "lane" to be in when using the jogging track. The track goes around above the pool so you will see my vantage point in a few of these photos. I liked seeing the Magic Carpet from up there as well.