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I hope you have fantastic weather for your cruise. We had sunny days every single day onboard. One day, we had a light rain as we went into port, but it cleared and the sun was shining when we docked. We had some slow rolling waves from the Atlantic while we were cruising down and back that gave a bit of a rocking motion those days, but I personally love a bit of movement that lets me know I’m onboard a ship, and was gently rocked to sleep at night. Of course, I’ve seen the Atlantic like a sheet of glass as well, so you never know what you will have. 🙂

Thank you for your kind words. You really should try Celebrity! We were blown away by the great food, the relaxed atmosphere, and the great people working aboard. The ship itself is beautiful as well. I should have taken more pics of the ship, but spent so much time just enjoying myself. 🙂

We had some nice touches in our cabin, courtesy of our butler, Rajeev. In our first day discussion with him, we asked him not to send afternoon snacks every day, that an occasional one of meats, cheeses and/or fruit would be nice, but not necessary. He also knew my birthday was last week, and I told him I preferred a low-key birthday celebration. The second day, he left a vase with flowers in the cabin, and those were fresh to the last day! Took a pic the first and last days. He also decorated and left cake on my birthday. Very nice!

The Martini Bar — knew it would be my favorite venue, and it was. Ken likes a nice glass of wine with dinner on the weekends, but I only seem to drink when traveling….and I will make a Pineapple Upside Down Cake Martini, or a Crescendo (RCI 270 lounge specialty drink) on a Friday night of a tough workweek. The normal 4 free drinks a day on RCI for Diamond usually suffices, but the premium drink package enticed me to try 12 different martinis on the menu, 4 others I requested, some of them more than once. The Gangster-tini quickly became a favorite, along with the toffee apple martini, and surprisingly to me, the Mexicali.

The suite lounge is very nice on Apex, as well as the suite deck. And the suite deck bar has a limited lunch menu (including that great burger) even when in port, so there is that bonus. It’s a shaded area with tables. I didn’t get any real pics of the two areas, but did get a couple of the view from the lounge. We loved to relax there.

Harmony May 2023

He is. He was a real jokester with the regulars on our cruise. I told him if we ever crossed paths, I would ask for another “tomato”. 🙂

Absolutely! Will post the daily Celebrity Today at the end, in case you or anyone is interested. 🙂

It was not. If there was any ‘failing’, it was the slow internet. Next to last day headed back, it was very slow. We had hoped it would be available, but it was so slow that it was def not Starlink.

Yes it does. Perfect angle for laying in bed and watching. I love that the app (and our phones) can completely operate the tv, the curtains and the lighting. 🙂

Dinner the first night was in Luminae. Every night there was outstanding. We ate there 4 nights, and did specialty dining the others. My photos of these are hit and miss….depending on just how many martinis I had before dinner. I had the Grilled Beef Sirloin with roasted cauliflower purée, salted caramel onions, beer infused jus. Ken had grilled Barramundi Fish with artichoke purée, leeks and fave bean pesto. He had the Green Tea Cake for dessert. I went to the Martini Bar and had the Bananas Foster Martini for my dessert. No judgment please. 😂

One of my (several) favorite drinks onboard Apex was the Bourbon and Peaches served in Luminae. I’m going to have fun trying to duplicate this recipe. I hear that bars closest to Luminae can also make them, if there is a bar close by. I had this every night as the Sommelier tried desperately to get me to try a glass of wine. Ken loves wine, but I prefer a mixed drink. I did redeem myself (slightly) later in the week when we attended the premium wine tasting with him. 🤭

Yes, they were! Tada was a hoot. I asked for some kind of strawberry martini, any kind of strawberry martini, and after glaring at me for a while, he made one (and another different one later). When I asked what they were, he would only say “Tomato”. 😂

We just debarked, and in Luminae there were several items they offered, off menu, every night. There were a few different steaks, salmon and a couple other fish. I am sure there are others as well. They try hard to accommodate. But ordering off other menus is simply too cumbersome, since Luminae is so far from the main dining rooms.

We had Sky Suite 10208, opposite end of the ship from Luminae and the Retreat Lounge. I did that on purpose to get us to walk more. 🙂 Pics of our cabin:

We had a sky suite, so didn’t have an infinite veranda. We had a regular one. I will post cabin pics next. We did meet others onboard with them, and all enjoyed those. A couple were surprised how much they liked them. The only caveat they had was that a few times, we were getting gusty winds off the Atlantic, so that side was locked down when the winds were gusting. I want to try an infinite veranda one day. Ken is wary, like you, but I personally think we would enjoy the additional ‘space’.

Yes. The Grand Bistro is where the Elite breakfast is, and you can get your specialty coffees there.

We were on last week. 🙂 I looked thru the flyers we have and apparently the kids club info is only available at the kids club. So we don’t have any of the flyers. Maybe someone else can chime in here with that. We did talk to a couple who have younger kids, and their children love the kids club. They play Gaga ball, do scavenger hunts, ice cream sundae parties, and other fun activities. On our cruise, since school was back in session, there were only a handful of kids on the cruise, most were younger than school age. Hope you have a great cruise!

If anyone has specific questions, please feel free to ask. I will be happy to assist, if I know the answer. 🙂

A quick lighthearted note on Apple AirTags for those of you who use them. On embarkation day, checked “Find my” on the phone…..only to see that Apple said my bag was in the channel at the port. 😳 😬😂 We were finishing up the champagne at that point, so thought that was funny. The champagne explains why I didn’t get a screenshot for all to enjoy. I figured it was on the ship, but we joked that I should have asked Rajeev what my bag was doing in the water. 🤭

These are the Elite bennies for our cruise.

We are Diamond, very close to +, so we’re given Elite status with Celebrity for this cruise. We had breakfast in the Grand Bistro one morning, a very nice, ‘heavy’ continental breakfast, with specialty coffees. I had a cheese and fruit plate, and Ken had a bagel, cream cheese and salmon, along with fruit and cheese. Plenty to eat for breakfast….after my regular caramel macchiato with biscotti, of course. No pic of the plates, but here is one of the yummy caramel macchiato.

Suggest heading to the Martini Bar in evenings, even if you aren’t a drinker. We met the nicest people at the Martini Bar, and if the bartenders are still working their current contract, they are all great! 🙂 Don’t miss the entertainment there, and in the Eden Bar as well. Hope you have a great cruise too.

Back to boarding day. After a great lunch, went to muster. Ours was at the casino. We figured while everyone else boarded the life boats, we would be spending the rest of our money in the slots…just in case. 😂 The ship is beautiful, and has a very nice modern feel, with some of the classic look thrown in. We loved the staircases on the grand plaza, with the beautiful wood steps. Went back to the cabin, where our room steward Bachan (who rivaled our favorite steward from RCI, Marva) and butler, Rajeev, had finished up the cabin. Rajeev chilled our welcome aboard champagne, after asking if we wanted to enjoy it that day or later (chill that baby now! 😁).

We loved the crew as well. 🙂 And really wish we had time for a B2B. Can’t wait to do so in retirement!