Dreamer68

As for excursions, we chose only 1 with the cruise line - Stingray City because the cost was competitive with options we could book ourselves. I did appreciate the convenience of booking with Celebrity. I found I was not looking at my watch at all (versus all the other options we did on our own). In Key West, we knew there was a hop-on/ hop-off bus but if you're mobile, it's actually not far to walk from the ship to the "southernmost point" in the continental USA, and back. I felt we actually got there faster by walking as the bus stops were not easy to spot and the bus was not very frequent, at least I felt it was not. In Belize, we booked with cavetubing.bz after reading lots of reviews here on CC and on TripAdvisor. Mitsugirly here on CC has lots of photos and information about this provider. Our best tour guide happen to be with cavetubing,bz. I think people are scared about not returning to the ship on time and book with the cruise lines. Our guide was pleasant, knowledgeable, spoke proudly and fondly of his country, shared any historical tidbit we were interested in, got us to the river and cave differently than those on big tour buses. I feel we got more for our money, especially when it turned out we were his only guests that morning. Apart from the personal service, we got the most delicious homecooked lunch by the mom of a staff member. It was like coming home to your Aunt Matilda or Tia Nina's place for lunch y'know? A delicious Belizian meal of rice, chicken and coleslaw. In Cozumel, we booked through Viatour, a trip that included a glass-bottomed boat, snorkelling (had to jump off said boat), an hour or supposedly 2 at a Beach club at Playa Uvas including lunch, some ATV riding and an amazing Tequila factory tour. I can go into some details if anyone has questions about those excursions. In general, all the tours we booked on our own where cheaper than ship ones by 20-40% per person. Peace of mind though, about getting back to the ship is worth quite a lot. So, know what your own criteria is and be happy with your choice. We were. 🙂

Some other things I appreciated on the cruise were beach towels in my cabin the night before a port stop plus chocolates on my bed every night. No biggie but nice touch.

The only specialty restaurant I went to was Raw on 5. Figured since it was touted on the Celebrity website as "Every Sushi Connoisseur's Dream" and I'm a huge sushi fan having had it in various cities including several in Japan. I chose the Omakase Sashimi (chef's choice of 5 pieces of sashimi) and the Sunset Roll (salmon, mango, avocado, spicy mayo, tempura crunch). Although the price was decent (considering it's on a spectacular billion-dollar cruise ship), i.e. approximately USD2 for each piece, sadly, the meal was mediocre at best, especially the roll. The filling looked sparse and the roll was not tightly rolled. You'll see what I mean in my photo. The avocado was a greyish green (would have loved it to be a brilliant green gradient, the sauce dabbed on top was basic. The mango was bland, like the watermelons I spoke of in the MDRs. The Omakase was slightly better but of the raw fish selection, only the salmon was memorable. It was smooth like butter while the other fish tasted dry 🤷‍♀️ The octopus was the best part of the plate. So, my sushi choices at Raw on 5 were a miss. I can definitely get better sushi here at home. If I return to Raw on 5, it would be to try the seafood platters with a few friends.😉 I'm open to suggestions of specialty restaurants to visit the next time I'm on an Edge-class ship (please include why I should visit your choices)...I'm thinking of Eden for dinner or Le Petit Chef....🤔

Eden.*sigh* This is such a fabulous space. 3 storeys. Many combinations of seating configuration, many different types of chairs and seats. The performance space is small and the performers make it work.There was a violinist who was spectacular. Stylish and beautiful (male and female) acrobats grace the space. I enjoyed every visit I made to Eden, including the ones where I just spent time in one of those colourful hanging basket chairs just to read and watch the sunset. Oh, there was a little space/ alcove with some shelves and I found a few books there. There isn't a library on the Apex. I added a picture here of Eden from the outside of the ship. 🙂 And sorry, I may have repeated one video. I was mesmerized by the waves... VID_20230108_174416517.mp4 VID_20230108_230229846.mp4 VID_20230108_230729028.mp4 VID_20230108_231805947.mp4

Just wanted to note that the Divas 3 trio was great. Here's their website: https://www.divas3lasvegas.com/ Well-done covers of the top songs from the female powerhouses of the 1960s through the 1990s. What a treasure chest we have in such incredible songs and music. The 3 singers that made the Apex home for this short stint were Crystal Garrett, Trenyce Cobbins, and Charity Farrell. I enjoyed their 2nd night on stage as well. DH and I actually sat in front of them one night at one of the theatre productions and they kindly agreed to a selfie. I heard a lot of other passengers show appreciation for their vocal talents. Well-deserved. ❤️ VID_20230112_194338405.mp4 VID_20230112_195549669.mp4 VID_20230112_194338405.mp4

Oohhh... you will experience all 4 Edge-class ships! ❤️ ❤️ The prices for ASCENT for the itinerary I was interested in just went up by almost a thousand $$ per couple... yeesh... wonder if the prices will come back down..? Yeah, the sales pitch at the Spa seminars. 🙄 If Celebrity didn't call them "seminars", I would not have felt this negative. Quite unfortunate, really, because I know from research, that there are some incredible things from the East that can complement Western cancer treatment. They could have actually shared some do-able tips/ habit changes, supported with scientific research (there's quite a bit these days, written in English, in academic journals to support stuff like Traditional Chinese Medicine or Ayurvedic ways in treatment of major illnesses). Sending hope and prayers for your friend's complete healing. 🙏 Glad you are enjoying my trip down the APEX memory lane. Will post some Eden videos now.

Rockumentary was touted as the "must-see" show. It was quite good. And a treat seeing both theatre cast members. Wonderful to hear Tina Turner represented but I gotta say Tina dances best. 🙂 VID_20230113_194405927.mp4 VID_20230113_201820182.mp4

Tree of Life...the songs brought back lots of memories ... the visuals prompting me to go through my seasons of life. The winter song got me teary-eyed, thinking about loved ones who have passed and about what I am currently doing to live out my own legacy. I don't know if anyone else on the Apex liked this show but it was my favourite. Corny, yeah, I know. 🤷‍♀️❤️ VID_20230111_195102281.mp4 VID_20230111_195428916.mp4 VID_20230111_200240859.mp4 VID_20230111_200956676.mp4

Several videos from Crystallize, Tree of Life, and Rockumentary. Seeing these again made me smile. I had a great time on the Apex. ❤️ VID_20230109_201537616.mp4

Video from Crystallize that made me mention that perhaps there are some better seats in the house. 😉 There was a range of vocalists on the two performing teams as well. Several were bigger powerhouses than the others but in general, I was fully satisfied with the entertainment onboard the Apex. 😍 VID_20230109_194139840.mp4

Evening shows... I have to say I enjoyed all the shows in varying degrees. I may have remembered wrongly but I think the Apex is one of 2 Celebrity ships with 2 performing teams on board. One performs in the main theatre and the other at Eden. They were together for at least one of the evening shows, Crystalize. Actually I think the whole team was together for the final night, Rockumentary. Most of it was musical with some acrobatics Really beautiful, actually. There was a singing trio, the Divas 3 (loved them!), who came on twice. A magician (pretty cool ...and he was funny!). Although they say you won't get a bad seat in the theatre (which is why I wasn't concerned about where I sat), I found that at Crystallize, the projected visuals would have been best appreciated if we had been seated in the centre of the theatre. You can see a video below and see if you know what I mean. Apart from that show, the short person that I am was able to see well from the front section on the right and left of the stage. My favourite shows were the Tree of Life and Rockumentary. 🙂 PS - go to the chat session with your Cruise Director and Captain. Really great Q & A. CD Shawna was just fantastic. Captain was in the crowd every night for the shows. I appreciated that.

Here are the descriptions of the seminars at the Spa. Really unfortunate labelling as I felt them misleading. After the first one, the others were all about 5 mins of info (or less) followed by an invitation to buy something. Too bad because I think the medical professionals hosting these "seminars" really had interesting information to share about alternative and holistic health including acupuncture. And yes, I mentioned this on the feedback survey to Celebrity. I guess people figured out the sales pitch and by mid-week, nobody else came for these "seminars" but me...and then, it really got awkward. One-on-one and still I did not learn much as I had heard the invitation to purchase the same thing 2 "seminars" prior. Maybe I need to release the standard about cruise seminars that was set by HAL many years ago 🤔

I liked these simple ones about the weather upon arrival at port or at sea. 🙂 I wonder if the ones at port actually show the position the ship is docked, at starboard or port side. Does anyone know?

Note about "seminars" at the Spa. Sadly, apart from perhaps only two, everything else labelled "seminar" was really a sales pitch for Spa experiences, no real information of any sort. I was there to learn about eating well or Quite the waste of my time, really, disappointingly so. I wish they would stop labelling it a "seminar", I felt misled and I could have planned my free time better. You can see the descriptions of the "seminars" on the screenshots I took of my Celebrity App. I remember on Holland America long time ago, there were actual seminars and information sessions about so many things including interesting port information. Are there any cruise lines that do those seminars anymore? PS - the art seminar on Thomas Kincade was good. The one about precious jewels ad diamonds would have been great if there was not so much leading towards shopping at Effy Jewelry on the ship. There. I said it. 🤷‍♀️ If the information I learn is impactful, nobody has to twist my arm to buy anything. When there's too much of a sales pitch, it is unlikely I will buy anything. Here are screenshots of my Celebrity App schedule. I did enjoy having the app despite some glitches. I liked being able to message DH whilst on the ship without taking the WiFi package. I liked seeing the weather for the day, the menu at the restaurants, information about the activities for the day, etc. PS - the Chandelier show is that light and music "show" (approx. 10 mins) at the Martini Bar every night.

There were many venues for music and fun on the Apex, throughout the day and into the night. There were small musical acts at the Martini Bar/ Grand Plaza every day (there's a musician on Instagram who chronicles his life on board cruise ships who was one of these acts around the time we were on the ship), dance lessons with the Apex performers, trivia, archery, seminars etc. VID_20230109_225312848.mp4 VID_20230108_035204790.mp4

Let me finish sharing some additional photos and I will stop. So, I never got to try the Magic Carpet for drinks and snacks. I did however, really liked it for getting on the tender. As with many comments on CC, I think Celebrity came up with a brilliant solution using the Magic Carpet although I confess when I first saw it on the side of the ship, I thought it looked so weird and "off". It somehow felt so stable for our leaving the ship to get on a tender for our Belize stop and that morning, the weather was not the greatest. Belize was one of the stops we did not go with a cruise excursion so based on helpful info on CC, we got up early to get the earliest tender tickets possible. Oh, and our tour operator also requested we get off as early as possible so, we were at Craft Social to get our tender tickets by 8 am. I confess I was somewhat nervous seeing Celebrity excursion group after group being led off the ship as we made our way to the tender tickets assignment spot. What a relief when we scored Group # 2 tender tickets! Phew.

Such a gorgeous ship, right? I did not expect to like such a "big" ship but I fear now that I have experienced an Edge-class ship, I will be prone to compare all the others with it. Quite tempted to book the Ascent in 2024 for the Mediterranean even though there's the perfectly good Constellation itinerary available. 🤦‍♀️

Lobster at Cyprus MDR on Celebrity Apex.

What an appropriately named ship to go to the Galapagos! 😍

Ahhhh...so you understand...🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤗🤣 I've been to Maison Boulud. There's such intentional attention to detail of presentation and taste there that at the MDR, I couldn't help feeling "Wait, what?!", y'know? 🤷🏻‍♀️ Especially with that anniversary cake. It was not busy in the restaurant and nobody thought to switch out the treat for another pretty one that was without hazelnuts after knowing my allergy to them? I also wonder if perhaps a bit of investment in garnishes like fresh herbs (chopped or whole), microgreens, and edible flowers like nasturtium or violas for plating purposes might bring the MDR experience to another level. Or taking a second look at some colours that are being plated. There was a Classic entrée that came looking dull and tired. I always say I eat with my eyes first and pops of colour, well used, can elevate any dining experience, IMO. Enjoy your Transatlantic on the Apex, I envy your many Sea Days opportunity to enjoy the ship. 🤗 BTW, although I researched MDR meals before my cruise, I found the app was helpful reference with all the daily menus for all dining venues. Wish I had downloaded it earlier!

Wonderful! I see you've been on 8 Celebrity cruises. What's been your favourite thus far? So, the Apex will be your first Edge-class ship. I trust you'll have a lovely time.

Thanks a million for taking the time to share your thoughts! Yep, the OV cabin all the way forward. That's what I'm thinking to book. There are only 6-8 and only one is left for the cruise my group is looking at but uncertain about. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Some day, we might splurge a n a Sunset Verenda and who knows, a Suite. 🙏 Wishing you much oomph with the packing, uneventful flights or trip to your outbound port and a terrific cruise plus a safe return. 🤗

Oohhh.. I hope to do a Transpacific on the Edge in 2026. Talk about having the time to enjoy all the ship has to offer, eh? Lots of sea days in that itinerary! The only other Celebrity ship I've been on is the Summit and I loved it too. But these Edge-class ships are quite stunning... and going to 4 MDRs instead of 1? I know it's psychological, technically, the menu is the one (exception of the exlusive items) ...but they got me at their offer of 4 MDRs. 🙂 Do share what you loved about the Edge. 🙂

Due to dining times available and how the rotating schedules of the Celebrity Signature dishes (rotates through all 4 restaurants on different days) plus the Cyprus Exclusive menu items, we ended up here three times. We were finally seated in one area twice and the waiter recognized us and we were able to have good conversation (he seemed a lot friendlier than the first time we met...connection takes time, eh? 😉) The bread basket here seemed to always include pita and one of the dips seem to always be tzatziki which is fine by me. ❤️ This is where I had the much-discussed lobster. And yes, first lobster is complimentary, any additional ones are USD$16.99 each. Gone are the days of having multiple lobster tails included in your cruise price on the last fancy schmancy night at sea. The lobster was excellent, loved how they plated it so you could easily lift the lobster flesh right out of the tail. The rice pilaf was very flavourful. This one seemed to have a coconut-ty taste to it, almost as if someone cooked it in coconut milk but nah, right? There is no coconut milk in Greek rice pilaf. Nope. 🙃 I got to try the Sea Bass Ceviche (so good I had it twice), the Hot Melted Cheese Saganaki, the Lamb Shank Tagine, and the Greek-style Grilled Sea Bass (so very good!) and DH tried some Celebrity Classics here (like the NY Strip Steak and the Shrimp Cocktail) as well as the Exclusive Lemon Dill Chicken Souvlaki. There was one miss (an aesthetic one so no biggie for most people but it's attention to detail to me for a premium place) and I won't mention it but you might see it in the photo. The last couple of photos in this section for Cyprus are of the tables beside us, readied by the wait staff for the next day. They were all quietly working hard even as we ate and lingered over dinner. All in all, I felt well taken care off in the 4 MDRs of the Apex. The service was good, the options were plenty (for me), the meals well-cooked and presented, the servings decent and apart from the small details I mentioned that were a "miss" for me (important in my eyes for sit down meals (vs buffets) for a cruise line that's considered "premium"), I really enjoyed going "out on the town" in all 4 MDRs at sea. The only specialty dining I went to was Raw on 5. I can post about that next and some excursion experiences. Hope y'all enjoyed the MDR visit through my eyes and my palate preferences. Sorry if I came off as a bit of a food snob. I've got the likes of Daniel Boulud, Marcus Samuelsson, Chuck Hughes and others in my home city. My standards for the MDR and any specialty dining are therefore higher than for OVC meals. 😉

We come to Cyprus, the 4th of Apex's MDRs. The decor was more understated than the other 3, less bling but just as stylish, I thought. Surprisingly, we ended up coming here 3 nights out of our 7-nt cruise, cancelling out a 2nd try at Normandie. The last photo in this section is the sitting area at the entrance where the host receives you. It gave a more casual feel to the restaurant although I would not have felt comfortable to sit with my feet up, there at the entrance of the restaurant, waiting for my table, how about you? In my stateroom, watching TV, yes. 🙃