Crazy planning mom

On our recent Caribbean cruise on the Apex they had trivia, golf events (indoor), street Curling (indoor), music bingo.

Glad that you enjoyed your starter cruise.  Hope your dh feels better and you get to go on more.

I like the idea of moving the 2nd cruise to February.  We just sailed the Eastern Caribbean Feb. 24-March 2nd.  It was warm but not oppressively hot like July.  We liked St. Thomas and Puerto Plata.

It says tenderloin for Two but can just one person order it for themselves?

Are there any food places in the port area itself?

Also, Duo Rio was a very good husband wife duo.

We were just in both ports.  St. Maarten has been really affected by hurricane and some building damage is still visible.  We still had a great day.  Hubby is into planes so Maho beach was the favorite for him.

Final sea day was a good one.  Started off with a walk around the track followed by breakfast in Cosmopolitan dining room.  Absolutely loved the Baked Apple.  Also, enjoy bagel with lox.

Swam in the solarium, watched some of Barbie in the Rooftop Garden, and the Officers v Passengers pool volleyball game. 

Hubby did a behind the scenes tour which he loved.

Playing Musical Bingo while enjoying a Martini Flight was a total blast.

Dinner was at Cyprus.  Service seemed a little overwhelmed.  Nevertheless, Lentil Soup, Mezze Platter were tasty.  The Cypriot Short Ribs were fork tender.

Tree of Life had a brand new cast but I didn’t notice any flubs and thought they were great.

On 2/29/2024 at 8:20 AM, jamieben said:

Which cabin is this? We are sailing on the apex in February in the same cabin type, a first for us! 

We were in Cabin 7118.  Just got off this morning. 

23 minutes ago, hcat said:

 

Great pics!  Beach at Maho looks very nice ..were the planes noisy?

 

We will be at Puerta Plata for our first time next Jan  on APEX.

We do not plan to swim..just stop at Cigar Kiosk,  gift shop and buy a  lite lunch and drinks..Did you eat or get drinks there?

  Heard there are nice plantings and a  bird area in  port or  next door?? Did you see it?

 

thanks

Got tacos and Coke Zero for $19 at  a bar.  There were sit down places also.  

We enjoyed seeing the birds and Taino Bay was very nice with trees and such.  Looked like a good place to get cigars.

I didn’t find the planes in Maho overly noisy.

1 hour ago, jamieben said:

All sounds so lovely! How far is this area with the pool and lazy river? Is this an extra cost? 

Loved the lazy river.  No charge for pool or lazy river.

Our last port was Puerto Plata.  Hubby did a dune buggy excursion through Marysol tours which he loved.  I stayed in the port area, rode the lazy river, went in the pool, and bought some chocolate.

For dinner, we went to Fine Cut.  They originally were going to seat us closer to the Martini Bar but I requested something further away.  They put us in front of the wine cellar which was fine with me.  Hubby ordered a ribeye well done.  Originally when they brought it out, it wasn’t well done.  So, they took it back for more cooking.  I love the crab cake appetizer.  They also brought me the lobster appetizer which was good.  My main was chicken which was delicious and I finished with apple walnut cobbler.  It was great.  I saw a lot of people getting this giant sundae.

The show was a magician, TJ Tana.  Hubby said he was very good but I fell asleep.  I don’t think it was due to the show.  I was just tired.  He went to the 80’s flashback quiz show which he said was great.

St. Thomas was the only port new to us.  It was a short day so we picked our only ship excursion of the day.  It was called Drake’s Seat, Magens Bay, and Skyride.  We enjoyed all three parts of this excursion.  My husband got a kick out of the open air bus and our driver was entertaining.  This was a good weather day fortunately.

The Icon of the Seas was in port with us.  Hubby was thrilled to catch a glimpse.  Our ship was a baby next to it.

Dinner was at Normandie.  Service was great.  I enjoyed the Coquille St. Jacques, Duck, and Sacher Torte.  I believe this was the night we saw Crystallize and went to the Silent Disco. Great day.

On 2/29/2024 at 5:45 PM, crazyfrazee said:

My cruising history started with Carnival. I was a cruise away from turning platinum when they did me wrong. I left and didn't think I'd ever go back. I switched to Royal and became platinum and have really enjoyed cruising with them until they went crazy with pricing. I know "pricing" has been beat to death on here!

 

I booked Carnival Celebration which is less than 2 years old, 183,000 GT, 7 day cruise in an ocean view suite for only $3100. The room has a divider so it's like 2 rooms with 2 large screen tv's. 

 

Anyone else looking at other cruiselines until the prices come back down with Royal?

Use a travel agent.  I got a much better price recently when I used a travel agent to book my Fall Symphony of the Seas sailing.

We started off day 4 with room service continental breakfast before our day in St. Maarten.  I booked a tour through Coral Transportation.  Unfortunately, I neglected to give them a time and they emailed that morning to say they would be at the pier at 9am.  I quickly replied back that we weren’t docking until 10am.  They were very nice about it.

They take you wherever you want to.  Our guide Oliver was great.  Unfortunately, we got caught in downpours in Marigot and Mullet Beach.  Even my clothes got soaked in Mullet:

Fortunately, the weather improved when we were at Maho Beach.

For dinner, we went to the Rooftop Grill,  we had great service here.  My husband loved his steak here.  My lamb chops were slightly tough.  The watermelon feta salad, asparagus, macaroni and cheese, and skillet cookie were all delicious.  We caught another great evening show. 

Day 3 was our San Juan day. Although we weren’t scheduled to arrive until 3:30pm, the Captain announced and got us there half an hour early.  No issues with cruising speed on this sailing at all.  
Enjoyed walking around the walking track and a dip in the pool.  Hubby and I participated in Street Curling which was a lot of fun.

In San Juan, we walked off on our own.  We had a few places we wanted to visit.  Barrachina had a long wait so we skipped that.  Did some souvenir shopping at Poet’s Passage which is a cool place.  We stopped for a drink at the El Convento Hotel and then had dinner at Cayo Caribe.  We found the food to be tasty and it was on the way back to the ship.

I am currently on Apex.  No problems with speed.

8 hours ago, Arzeena said:

We booked one for our April cruise on the Beyond. We would love to read your thoughts. Anything you do not like or particularly love about it?

We love it.  It is spacious enough.  Sitting in the balcony as I type this.  We had room service breakfast out here yesterday.  

Our cabin is a porthole cabin.  We are very happy with.  The room steward is wonderful.

He introduced himself the first day, always greets us, and most importantly keeps the room clean and well stocked with towels.

Day 2 was a relaxing day at sea.  Tried the blueberry banana peanut butter bagel in the Spa Cafe.  Enjoyed the walking track and lounged by the pool.  I watched hubby compete in the golf chipping contest and quarterback challenge.  Dinner was in Tuscan.  
 

I loved my Pumpkin Burrata Salad and Papardelle with Chicken.  The Papardelle was large enough for 2.  Hubby had the grilled chicken.    Cannoli was disappointing.  Should have ordered the Apple Crumble.  Service wasn’t quite as attentive as Cosmopolitan.

We went to the 9pm show of Rockumentary.  It is a must see.  We arrived 30 minutes early and that seemed like a wise decision.

We caught the early show of the comedian, Robbie Printz.   He was a funny, relatable comedian.  We ate afterwards at Cosmopolitan.  Honestly, I think eating later on the first day is the way to go.

We ended up at a table for two but very close to the adjoining table.  We ended up having a really pleasant conversation with a couple from New Hampshire.  Food and service were very good in Cosmopolitan.  I enjoyed the Cauliflower Flan, a Pinot Grigio, Seared Salmon, and the excellent Carrot Cake.

The first thing we did onboard was check in at our muster station.  After that we were able to drop off our bags in our stateroom.  We then headed to the Oceanview Cafe for lunch.  We were satisfied with what we ate.  After unpacking, we headed to the Sunset Bar for sail away.  
The Sunset Bar was very crowded but we were able to scrounge up two chairs.  We ended sitting with a very nice couple from Toronto.  It was a lot of fun chatting and watching sail away.

The Sunset Bar is too small.  Glad they have expanded it on the Beyond and Apex. 

Embarkation was relatively easy.  We returned our rental car to FLL airport , walked downstairs to Terminal 1, and then after a 10 minute wait, ubered over to the Terminal 25.  Easiest embarkation.  Curb to ship took around 10 minutes.  We had a noon embarkation time but didn’t get to the port until about 12:25.

After 25 years, we are back on Celebrity.  My cousin selected this cruise and itinerary but cancelled back in November.  Still, excited to try Edge Class and escape from NY in the winter.

We spent three nights pre-cruise in South Florida visiting friends, family, and enjoying outdoor activities!

Thanks for your review

We have reservations for Rooftop Grill so glad to see you enjoyed.