On Apex now

[brovol]

Experiencing the last two days of Apex Western Caribbean trip, so thought I would share our experience so far.

 

We are fairly experienced cruisers. Over 40 cruises in 30 years.  We have sailed most mainstream cruise lines several times, but this is the first celebrity.  We have generally preferred Princess over the others, but also like Holland America, and have sailed Norwegian many times as well, including a couple in Haven.  

 

This time my wife and I are on with a group of nine total. We all booked infinite verandas, and I was quite concerned, as we enjoy having a balcony.  As for the infinite veranda, I do miss having a separate balcony to a certain extent, but actually having a separate patio-like area, with a full window, is pretty nice. You can sit there anytime and enjoy the view, without having to deal with the heat, humidity, or other weather. The other thing we like about it is, in our case at least, the bed is near the veranda area, and we had the steward leave the shades open at night. Left them open all the time actually. But you always have that fantastic view, which is much better with the infinite veranda, because you don't have to look through the balcony if you are just laying in bed.  One criticism I have though is that they need to wash those windows. They do a poor job at that, which leaves watermarks, compromising the view to a certain extent. The rooms are quite comfortable and functional in all respects. I'm not going to get into storage space or stuff like that, because so many videos exist to show you exactly what you get. I can say it was certainly adequate for us in every respect. Very good cabin steward, who was quiet, but took care of business.

 

Check in was perhaps the fastest and easiest we have ever experienced. It was actually amazing. We barely slowed down walking from the time and Uber dropped us off, to the time we got into our room. FYI, we showed up at around 10:30, or 10:45, which was prior to our assigned time. Incredibly smooth process.  

 

Food on the ship was excellent. We ate as a group in the cosmopolitan. Fixed early dining time, which prior to the cruise indicated would be at 6:00, but was actually at 5:30 once we got on board, which we preferred.  Had a very good wait staff. Food was always excellent. I've asked everyone in our group, and there have been no complaints.

 

Lunches we generally took in the lido. I thought the food and variety was quite good, but it did not change much from day to day.  Ate at the grill after embarking, and it was also really good. Burgers were very tasty, and the grilled buns on the burgers were exceptional.  

 

I don't drink coffee, but my wife does. She was very pleased with Cafe el bacio.

 

We did not do specialty restaurants. Did not feel it was necessary at all, as food and service were a high quality in the dining room, and never felt the temptation to book specialty dining.

 

We had the premium drink package. I'm still not certain that we got our value out of that, as we don't typically do much sophisticated drinking, but enjoyed having the package, as we typically do. We like having the mindset that we're not calculating our account balance while on board.  We are not big drinkers at home, but do tend to let our hair hang down a bit on cruises. Lol.  Service was quite good with the wait staff and bartenders. No complaints there either.

 

We also had the internet package. I upgraded to premium, and must say I was delighted.  I was able to stream live sports without an issue. I did a speed test one day, and I don't recall the exact results, but they were better than what I had been reading on cruise critic.  

 

 

We didn't take in any of the production shows yet, so I can't give you an assessment. But I can tell you the live music is generally excellent. We have been to Eden after dinner several evenings, and then the atrium music. There's some great voices on board.  We like just chilling in the evening, and played cards a lot in the evening while listening to music.  Had a very nice experience in that regard.  Eden is a fantastic venue.

 

The pool, where I am dictating this review right now, is nice, but would prefer if it had more lounging in the sun space. The solarium is very nice, but I don't think you can catch rays there, so my wife and I spent mornings generally at the pool. On port days it is not as bad, but on a sea day you better get there really early. We did, and enjoyed the peace until it got busy later.  The bar doesn't open until 10:00 though, so if you're interested you need to go elsewhere.  

 

I work out early each morning, and will say I was satisfied with the gym. I have been to larger, and probably better cruise ship gyms, but this one did the job nicely. I never had to wait for an elliptical, but did have to wait for weights and strength machines a few times.  Not too bad though.  Again, no real complaints. 

 

Service was excellent.  Not much more to say there. 

 

Couple of minor negative things, but I think those were mostly personal to us, so I'm not even going to mention them.

 

Obviously we still have a couple days on board, but our experience so far has been exceptional.  We would absolutely cruise celebrity again.  I think it is very comparable to princess, if not a bit nicer in a few respects. We do prefer the princess medallion benefits.  But I would say from this experience celebrity is very comparable to princess. 

 

I'm not sure how much I might check this thread after sending it. So not promising to get back with answers to questions. I do appreciate when I'm able to get fresh reviews from regular style cruisers prior to booking or heading out for a cruise, so I wanted to share our experience while they had the opportunity.  

 

Obviously can't talk about disembarkation, because won't be doing that for a couple days. 

 

So, for whatever it's worth.....

 

 

 

[CruisinShips]

Nice review.  Thanks

[StopTheWorld]

Thanks. Sailing Apex in May this year. Appreciate the review 😊

[hcat]

very nice..  concise & encouraging review..

 

We are booked for 2025 in an SV so we will have the 4 mdr plan..and  splurge one night in EDEN for b-day!

[JanNSteH]

Nice review.  We just got off of the Beyond several weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it as well.   We have also booked another cruise for July of 2025 and got the drink and Wi-Fi package as well.  I also don’t drink much but went through a lot of specialty coffees, bottled water and juices but spouse does drink.   Am also wondering if it’s worth it for the two of us to get the all included package.   While you are onboard, would you be able to find out the cost of bottled water?  Just wondering how much it would cost without a package.  Also just plain water not premium like Pelligrino.  Thanks in advance!

[563toM]

We just got off Apex and are very glad that you enjoyed your cruise because we did not.  I have a food allergy and in the Oceanview Cafe there is usually a paper which names the dish and the 4 allergens of gluten free, lactose free etc.  For our entire 7 day cruise there were many dishes that were missing the label entirely or it was not marked gluten free when it was.  We talked to both the workers and the Chef and were told by several "yes, we know the label is wrong but it is gluten free".  For the entire cruise we were told it would be corrected, it never was.

 

We have cruised on a few other Celebrity ships and received great food and felt very safe that the food being served was gluten free.  We will not return to Apex as staff generally were unhappy, both crew and supervisors wouldn't look at us and would hardly return a greeting if we greeted them.

[bookitdanno]

Great review. We are on Apex in a week, really looking forward to it.

[TheHawk1]

1 hour ago, 563toM said:

We just got off Apex and are very glad that you enjoyed your cruise because we did not.  I have a food allergy and in the Oceanview Cafe there is usually a paper which names the dish and the 4 allergens of gluten free, lactose free etc.  For our entire 7 day cruise there were many dishes that were missing the label entirely or it was not marked gluten free when it was.  We talked to both the workers and the Chef and were told by several "yes, we know the label is wrong but it is gluten free".  For the entire cruise we were told it would be corrected, it never was.

 

We have cruised on a few other Celebrity ships and received great food and felt very safe that the food being served was gluten free.  We will not return to Apex as staff generally were unhappy, both crew and supervisors wouldn't look at us and would hardly return a greeting if we greeted them.

Just got off Apex three weeks ago and couldn't have had a more different experience.  While there were certainly varying degrees of friendliness and customer service from the staff, we did not sense a general unhappiness amongst the crew nor encounter anyone who didn't say hello or or ask how they could help us. 

[brovol]

1 hour ago, 563toM said:

We just got off Apex and are very glad that you enjoyed your cruise because we did not.  I have a food allergy and in the Oceanview Cafe there is usually a paper which names the dish and the 4 allergens of gluten free, lactose free etc.  For our entire 7 day cruise there were many dishes that were missing the label entirely or it was not marked gluten free when it was.  We talked to both the workers and the Chef and were told by several "yes, we know the label is wrong but it is gluten free".  For the entire cruise we were told it would be corrected, it never was.

 

We have cruised on a few other Celebrity ships and received great food and felt very safe that the food being served was gluten free.  We will not return to Apex as staff generally were unhappy, both crew and supervisors wouldn't look at us and would hardly return a greeting if we greeted them.

Can't say staff being unhappy is consistent with our experience this week.  To the contrary, staff is extremely upbeat and friendly.  All smiles.  Very high level of service all around.  

[BadgerFBfan]

Nice, balanced review. We got off the Apex March 30th. We were in a Sky Suite, so not quite comparing "apples to apples", but we found the staff throughout the ship to be friendly, accommodating, and helpful. Food we found to be better on Celebrity than RCCL, where we previously cruised the most. We also had the premium drink package, and probably didn't quite get our "money's worth" from it, but like you we like not thinking about account balances while we're on a cruise. 

I would highly encourage you to not miss the last two shows of the cruise. They were SPECTACULAR (this from a guy who never wanted to go to the shows).

Enjoy your last days on board!!

[Georgia_Peaches]

Thank you for taking time to report on your cruise!

[Texed]

Thanks for posting.  😊

[Dancing Shoes]

We really enjoyed the Apex last April.  Would sail on her again.  Thanks for the review.

[Jumping Cruiser]

On 4/4/2024 at 3:52 PM, brovol said:

Fixed early dining time, which prior to the cruise indicated would be at 6:00, but was actually at 5:30 once we got on board, which we preferred. 

 

I thought edge class were fully flexible across all four dining rooms? Have they gone back to set-time dining in addition to my-time?

[Eriksgarden]

We were just on Apex a few weeks back and loved it.  Totally agree that they need to do a better job cleaning widows!  Otherwise, we loved it all.  Even the Infinite Verandah so many love to hate!

[Georgia_Peaches]

40 minutes ago, Jumping Cruiser said:

 

I thought edge class were fully flexible across all four dining rooms? 

Yes, this is correct.  But the app still allows you to make reservations if you want...not really sure of the reason.

[jmdlv1]

Thanks for posting your TR.

We were on the Apex 3/16-3/23.

Our experience was fantastic. Glad you are enjoying 

[Lastdance]

Which other lines have better gyms?  Thanks for your review!

[brovol]

2 hours ago, Jumping Cruiser said:

 

I thought edge class were fully flexible across all four dining rooms? Have they gone back to set-time dining in addition to my-time?

They do have fixed early and late seating.  We were assigned fixed early, which was supposed to be 6pm, but when we boarded ship we had a card in our room which said we were fixed early, but at 5:30.  Worked out great for us.  If you get the fixed early you basically walk right in and go to your table at the assigned time.  The card also says what dining room you are assigned to.  Anytime dining has to wait and be assigned a table.  

[TheHawk1]

3 hours ago, Lastdance said:

Which other lines have better gyms?  Thanks for your review!

Royal Caribbean’s Oasis class have better gyms than Celebrity, probably because they are larger ships and have more space to work with. I find there are too many cardio machines on Edge class, especially treadmills, and not enough resistance machines or free weights. But you can make do and it’s still better than no gym at all.

[hcat]

6 hours ago, TheHawk1 said:

Royal Caribbean’s Oasis class have better gyms than Celebrity, probably because they are larger ships and have more space to work with. I find there are too many cardio machines on Edge class, especially treadmills, and not enough resistance machines or free weights. But you can make do and it’s still better than no gym at all.

Do you recall seeing a rowing machine?  Seems lacking on E Class..but there's def  enough to get by for a week ..

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

On 4/4/2024 at 10:52 AM, brovol said:

Lunches we generally took in the lido.

 

Sorry to be dense, but in the what?

[brovol]

3 hours ago, hcat said:

Do you recall seeing a rowing machine?  Seems lacking on E Class..but there's def  enough to get by for a week ..

There are rowing machines. I think two.

[brovol]

2 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

Sorry to be dense, but in the what?

The buffet. Traditionally cruise ship buffets were on the lido deck.

[brovol]

Disembarked a little while ago. We did the self disembarkation. We were hoping to get to the airport and get in earlier flight, but no luck there. Disembarcation was a breeze.  Got off the ship, and headed right to the taxi area. Jumped on a taxi, and off we were.  As far as embarkation and disembarkation, this cruise was as good as it gets.

Edited April 6 by brovol