barbeyg

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!

We haven’t sailed Princess yet, so went and googled for a look see. It appears to be very similar in concept. I told Ken it felt like the “heart” of the ship to me. 🙂

We loved the concept of the Grand Plaza. A three story gathering place for all, with the martini bar central to it all. On the top deck of the area was Fine Cut Steakhouse (overlooking the area, but separated by glass so there was no noise pollution), middle deck included Cafe al Bacio (which I started every day at, and got to know the great kids that work there), the Grand Bistro, and the Craft Social. Lots of seating on this deck. Below that was the Martini Bar and an area for live music or a DJ. For those of you who sail with RCI, think of a stretched atrium on ships like the Radiance class. Just much more user friendly (IMO), and a place to hang out on multiple decks. Great design for bringing people together to stay and make friends.

We can’t wait for our next one now, on the Beyond next Thanksgiving. 😁

The ship was decorated for Christmas when we boarded. Very nicely done. Following are a few pics of the decorations.

Embarkation: one of our easiest ever, comparable to our Oasis cruise last year in a suite. We drove to the port, dropped luggage right at the entrance to Terminal 25, and parked in the nearby garage. Quick 5 minute walk to the door, entered at 10:50 (our time was scheduled for 11 am), and were escorted to the elevator, then thru the bag screening, and to a seat where we were checked in, then invited to board. We walked to our cabin to drop our carryon bags (wish RCI allowed this as well), was greeted by our butler, who suggested we grab a bite to eat in Luminae, then go to muster. When I asked if we should muster first, he told us to enjoy our lunch, that there was plenty of time afterwards. He asked us to call him when we returned to the cabin later, and he would go over the cabin amenities at that time. Had a great lunch at Luminae (fantastic burger, which I didn’t get a pic of, but did enjoy another later in the week). Public service announcement: if you sail RCI, the public restrooms have locks on the doors that notify you with red and green colors indicating if the stall is occupied. Apex is more subtle, and it took 3 days for me to figure it out. 😂 So you don’t struggle like I did, here is the scoop. Straight up and down on what looks like a flathead screw = available. Horizontal = occupied.

We were just reluctantly booted from Apex yesterday. They said something about new passengers that wanted to board….yada, yada, yada. 🙄 I am Barb, married to Ken. Yes, people do remember our names all the time, even though I am personally awful with names myself. We always cruise together, even though I’ve encouraged Ken to let me go alone sometimes to rack up extra loyalty points. I normally post on the RCI forums, since we have travelled with RCI for years. We just experienced our first Celebrity cruise, and some friends here asked us to let them know how it was, so wanted to share here where it makes sense to do so. Will try to group my thoughts together as much as I can. Why did we choose Celebrity? We have tossed around sailing with Celebrity for several years now. After having our Harmony OTS cruise cancelled and moved to Wonder OTS, then our Wonder OTS cruise cancelled and the alternative offering was…well, lacking, we decided it was time to jump ship and booked a Celebrity sky suite on the Apex. 🙂 I will post the review over the next week or so, as I have time. Sneak peak, this one rates up in our top 3 favorite cruises. 😁

I agree. And Royal has been so good about this and allergies in the past. It appears the ball has been dropped on training the servers. Or possibly a training 'refresh' is in order.

This. If you want internet for the week, the Diamond discount won't offset the difference. You would pay more by using the Diamond day, then paying for internet onboard.