barbeyg

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.

Fried catfish (in peanut oil) and ground mullet here, as well. Mullet has been thought of as trash fish in some places, but where I come from, it was considered "Biloxi bacon". MS born and raised on the gulf coast. 😁

It would, wouldn't it? 😁 I hope Surf is gone for good!

It seems that they are transitioning away from Surf, since it wasn't available to most of us Black Friday. Probably as they move to Starlink, there will be only one type of internet.

It could have easily been a supply issue instead of intentional misrepresentation. And with the current workforce shortage, advising about the substitution could have been 'lost' somewhere between the head of the dining room and the waiters. Not making excuses for them, but I've seen so much of this in our headquarters myself. People are stretched so thin that they have the attention span of a gnat.

If you have a bank account that refunds ATM fees internationally, that would be the best card to use. Otherwise, you may pay a hefty fee for cash at ATMs.

Coming out of lurk mode to say that I am so sorry to hear about Eric's mom, and will be in prayer for her and all of you.

The only sales I ever hope for on Black Friday or Cyber Monday are the internet and CocoCay Beach Club. If I can get the internet for a few $ less and the BC for 50% off, I feel fortunate. Bookings, I book early and check at least once a week for price decreases. That has saved me more than any special day sales.

We loved our trips to AK without cruising Glacier Bay, so I agree with you. The breathtaking beauty of AK always bowls me over, whether visiting a glacier, or viewing the waterfalls coming down the sides of beautiful mountains. We took my oldest sister and aunt with us this past May, and every time I speak to them now, they still talk about how beautiful it is. 🙂

Glacier Bay. Weve done AK several times now, and LOVE AK. All our sailings have been on RCI. We do our own before/after cruise tours. I love to plan, so we choose what we want to do ourselves, and rent a car.

We have had several ports where photo ID and cruise card were required to get back thru the port security before boarding after a day out on land.

Thanks for the heads up on your impressions of the ship/line. We cruise next week on Apex and are really excited. Found this in answer to your question. Many cruises have groups sailing, and this is one of the groups aboard currently : https://www.purplelightvacations.com/package/2022-post-thanksgiving-gay-group-cruise-on-the-celebrity-apex-pied-piper/

We have a few magnetic signs we alternate on cruises. Helps us find our cabin the first few days….and after a few drinks. 😁

I hope all make the best of the extra day, and those who were going to sail today are able to book a hotel. Hopefully finding a hotel room for Sunday night is easier than during the holiday weekend. 🙂 We missed our Juneau port day (was there only 2 hours that night restocking) on our AK cruise this year due to a medical emergency that required us to turn around and meet the Canadian Coast Guard (lost 8 hours) to pick up a crew member that needed urgent surgery. I remember being very, very disappointed, because the private tour we planned for Juneau was the most important one of the cruise, and I knew my aunt and oldest sister would never be able to cruise AK again. But, as the captain said in his gracious letter delivered to all cabins (paraphrasing), “We had a medical emergency with one of our ‘family members’, and had to take measures required to save his life. We would do the same for your family.” Frustrations/complications/disappointments aside, I’m thankful to know that. 🙂 I hope travel insurance covers your added expenses, even though it can’t cover the time spent making alternative arrangements.

^^^This.

Wouldn’t that be great?! I suspect they won’t allow those booked to roll onto the TA, but crossing my fingers for you! 🙂

Usually our delays have been for either Coast Guard inspections, or extra cleaning (fogging) due to illness onboard (previously Noro, but flu and other illnesses abound right now). But it is all a guess, unless they say.

We are as well. 🙂 Will sail her one day ourselves. And we said the exact same thing about the adult areas.