Short review for Apex West Caribbean - 4/13 to 4/20 2024

[dlh015]

* Embarkation out of Fort Lauderdale was super smooth. It was barely 15 minutes from arrival to luggage drop off in our Magic Carpet stateroom to hitting    lunch in Luminae. We got to the port about 11:45 am.

 

* Our room attendant Tommy stopped by and introduced himself shortly after our return from lunch. Our butler James (it said butler on his card) stopped by soon thereafter. He kept our minbar stocked with my fav IPAs and my DW's fav beverages. Yes, he is handling 23 suites...sadly across various decks. He was surprised that I knew about his work load. He said that there was no plan to increase staffing. 

 

* We did not go to any specialty restaurants except Eden and ate most of our meals in Luminae when it was open. Service was very good. Food was always hot (except when it wasn't supposed to be 🙂). Wine pours were generous. Unfortunately I failed to note the names of them. Oops.

 

*  The Apex was beautiful. And that is an understatement. Very, very clean. We did not encounter any blaringly loud music but we didn't hang around the grand plaza very much so it could have been nasty for others. The corridors didn't have any loud music and many times just had an ocean waves sound. We just enjoyed walking around the ship and admiring the art. 

 

* Eden was wonderful. Had a great table and again, the staff was attentive and the food was served at an appropriate temperature. One little gotcha was the yellow snapper my DW had was way too hot spice-wise. We could not tell from the ingredients that it would be that hot. This was easily remedied by exchanging entrees...so she had my Filet Mignon & mini-beef Wellington. (Yes, we could have sent it back but there was no need as I happen to like spicy hot food.)  We really enjoyed watching the chefs at work...what a team!!

 

* The weather was superb everywhere! (Fort Lauderdale, Key West, Belize, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman)

 

* We organized our own excursion in Key West which was a walking tour. We visited the Little White House, the lighthouse and the keeper's quarters, the Hemingway Museum, the southern most point marker, and the Nature Conservatory. We liked it all but the Butterfly Conservatory was just amazing. Highly recommend a visit to that...we would definitely go again.  

 

* In Belize we visited the Mayan Lamani ruins. It was a 'complicated' tour as there was a bus ride, then a boat ride to get to the site. They also fed us a 'locals' lunch of chicken, fried plantains, potato salad and rice and beans cooked in coconut milk. Everything was quite tasty.

This was a ship excursion and that was a good thing because we were the last bus to return and had a tender all to ourselves. We were only 15 minutes late and the tour guides were in constant contact with the ship. We were late because the bus air suspension system failed and the speed bumps were horrendous. (And there were a lot of them!) Incredibly, they dispatched another bus that happened to be nearby (or perhaps it was just ready for just this kind of emergency) and we transferred quickly and easily.

 

* We also took a ship excursion in Cozumel. Since the operator cancelled our original Tulum excursion because of time constraints (whatever), we ended up going to the San Gervasio ruins and then the beach. Our guide was hilarious and an island native of Mayan heritage. You wouldn't have known he would be so enjoyable when you first met him. Frankly, I was not getting a great vibe in the beginning but that quickly turned into a bunch of fun. (His name was Jesus)

 

* For Grand Cayman, we booked a private excursion from a company recommended here on CC (Shore Excursions Group). It went to the Crystal Caves.  Celebrity wanted $300 per person for their excursion. We paid $250 for both of us. The guide at the site (Ives) was great and really made the tour interesting. However...the bus left without us! We had returned a few minutes late apparently. Well, the staff at the caves were familiar with Caytours (the subcontractor) and made some hurried calls and they came back and got us. Whew. Did not need that! Getting a taxi on Grand Cayman was not an option given the time constraints.  (Some folks on the bus told us that there was some confusion about the number of people they were supposed to pick up...ooooookay...so off they went) I have sent an email to the company with my comments.

 

*Disembarkation could not have been easier. We did a Celebrity excursion to an Everglades Airboat park and then it dropped us off at the airport. It was a fine day.  

 

Couple of negs:

* Don't much care for the design of the storage space in the MC Sky Suites. The bathroom and balcony were fine...especially the balcony...it was huge. But getting to the closet was a bit of a hassle. Actually it was a pain in the a**. However, there was sufficient drawer space for the two of us. A larger table on the balcony would be nice. 

* The video on demand and the channels were, well, severely lacking in content and functionality.

* Despite monitoring my account daily, including the morning of our departure, I received a bill of $17.78 for the minibar. The minibar was empty when we arrived. I left a couple beers in it that I put there. So I have no idea where the charge came from...perhaps there was a paperwork mix up...I don't know. But I do know that I am not going to bother going thru the process of clawing my money back. 

 

The Retreat Sun Deck and Lounge were great...really enjoyed them.

 

So we had a pretty good cruise. (never had a bad one frankly...) But it will be a while before we sail X again. It will have to be a great itinerary and there will need to be some pricing changes. But I'm not holding my breath for any of that. They're sailing full so why should they change? We booked this Sky Suite when grats were included and we got $600 in OBC. Thank goodness. That gave us some value-add.

 

One more thing...the Apex was full...yet it never, ever felt crowded. And the other cruisers were no problem at all, no crazy outbursts or rude behavior.

 

Well...one small humorous event. One evening (9:30 ish) towards the end of the cruise I was hanging out on the port side of the Sunset bar. Just listening to the sea and looking at the wake and stars. I hear a woman's voice asking the bartender if he 'has a light'...he says no. She then accosts a group of folks sitting in a lounge area right at the wake area. "HEY! Anyone got a light??"  I hear mumbled nos and I look to see their heads shaking as the woman heads off toward the starboard side (where the smoking area is). 

I resume my enjoyment of the serene circumstances I am in. About 5 minutes later I hear "HEY YOU" very close to me. I turn and yep, it's her. She staring right at me. Then: "Got a light?"  I say no. She says "what are you doing here?" I say nothing and slowly just turn away...off she goes. As I later walk by the aforementioned table of people, they start laughing and we all just start wondering what she was smoking...  

 

ETA: Okay, maybe not so short...😁

 

 

Edited April 21 by dlh015

[Georgia_Peaches]

So glad you had a nice cruise. Your itinerary is actually one of my favorites, sans Grand Cayman. I’ve never been on Apex but we will embark on Edge in a few weeks, also in a MC suite. Am I to understand that you asked your room steward/butler to empty your fridge?  And then they filled it with your requests?  I’m not sure how that works or if we will even bother but like you, I don’t care to be charged for something I didn’t consume…wouldn’t chase down the minimal charges but how interesting that they occurred on the last day when you’re not there to dispute. 
 

Question though, if not Celebrity, then who for your next cruise adventure?  I agree that, like you we no longer see the value in suites but I’m finding that there are still some good deals to be had once in a while in other categories. 
 

Thanks for the review from one of my favorite CC’ers. 😊

[dlh015]

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

So glad you had a nice cruise. Your itinerary is actually one of my favorites, sans Grand Cayman. I’ve never been on Apex but we will embark on Edge in a few weeks, also in a MC suite. Am I to understand that you asked your room steward/butler to empty your fridge?  And then they filled it with your requests?  I’m not sure how that works or if we will even bother but like you, I don’t care to be charged for something I didn’t consume…wouldn’t chase down the minimal charges but how interesting that they occurred on the last day when you’re not there to dispute. 
 

Question though, if not Celebrity, then who for your next cruise adventure?  I agree that, like you we no longer see the value in suites but I’m finding that there are still some good deals to be had once in a while in other categories. 
 

Thanks for the review from one of my favorite CC’ers. 😊

You made me blush...lol.

 

No, I did not ask anyone to empty the minibar...it was empty upon our arrival. However, when James saw I liked IPAs he kept it stocked at no charge along with ginger ale for my DW.  And that was it. But I understand not all butlers will do this (from what I've read here on CC) and that we were fortunate enough to have one who did. It certainly enhanced our cruise.

 

I do certainly agree that some deals in other categories do come around from time to time...rereading that part of the post I realize I was too strict in my wording. If the right itinerary comes up at a decent price I would keep X in the running... 

 

We're cruising the West Indies on Viking Ocean next year. It's an itinerary we've been interested in for a while. And we want to try a smaller ship. And, believe it or not, we like the decor on their ships. 

 

I've been sorting thru a myriad of info and pricing amongst a variety of lines that all get a mention here from time to time. We only have a few destinations that we are interested in so that narrows things down a bit. 

 

BTW, just to be clear: the Apex is an awesome ship. Current crew is friendly and competent. 

 

 

 

Edited April 22 by dlh015