Sox Fan Cruiser

No truer statement has ever been said! 🤪

We are a group of 9 all in suites on Celebrity Apex. We eat pretty late usually not entering the restaurant until after 8. Will they have seating for 9 of us? I assume there are no round tables that seat 9 but I was thinking that they can put a bunch of square tables in one long row. Is there space for that? Of course I’ll talk the matre’d ahead of time and mention it to the retreat hosts as well. Just was asking if the space could even accommodate.

They are not. We showed our vaccination card and never heard anything more about it. The crew was masked most of the time but we were not at all.

We got our docs two weeks and a day before we sailed. They said they do that because things are still changing day by day. Not sure if that was their process pre-covid. The biggest thing we found out from the docs is that we didn't board the ship until 4pm which is guess is standard for Star Clippers. Super late for those of us who sail the big ships. So we just say around the resort for the day.

We had everything we needed in the room. Shampoo, conditioner, body cream and bars of soap. The rest is stuff we would normally bring that is part of our specific regime. BUT, a nightlight is a great idea!! The light switch for the bathroom is on the outside so if you go in the middle of the night, you need to first turn on the light then open the door causing the entire room to light up. I think I mentioned this before but a light jacket may be beneficial. It rains often in the caribbean (passing showers) and these boats can't really sail around them like the big ships can. So a light rain coat to keep you dry and warm might help. Also bring a water bottle if you drink water all day as they charge for bottled water. There is filling station in the Tropical Bar for you to fill up your own container. Some of the excursions don't provide snorkeling gear so we brought our own. We also used our own flippers when swimming off the back as the current was very strong. If I think of other things, I'll come back. It really was a low-key vacation and I can't think of things I was without.

We did not need them at all and we were rocking and rolling!! Never felt even been the least bit queasy. But if you think you might then you should bring something. Better to have it and not use it….

One thing I forgot to mention that we never want to talk about is disembarkation. SO much more relaxed than on the "big ships". With so few passengers you don't need to put your luggage out until 4am. This allows you to enjoy the night and then pack up those clothes to send with your luggage. Heck, TheTwinsMom, might wake up and pack in the morning. 🙂 Then you can enjoy the breakfast buffet and not have to be of the boat until 10am depending on your flight info. Customs is done on the ship and very easy. They also have a couple of tours for things to do if you have a late(r) flight. The most relaxed disembarkation ever.

They DID have a "pirate night" and some people dressed up. People might wear an eye patch or bandana but you didn't have to dress up to participate. A few people went all out and bought costumes specifically for this party. To be honest, I didn't want to attend so we avoided the party at the Tropical Bar that night. We ended up just going up on deck and watching the moon and the stars and then headed to bed. After talking to people the next day, I am very glad we did. They did a bunch of relay races involving things like hula hoops and did other silly games. Even the people that participated felt pretty silly. Not sure what that really had to do with pirates but I guess it's something fun to do. To be honest, I felt that it diminished their brand. There was no "white party" on our cruise. They do have a "Passenger and Crew Talent Night" where people could sing or tell jokes or play the guitar or whatever. I also found it silly and not what I look for in a cruise. The 'big ships" have them too and I never go to them. Now ABBA Night was a lot of fun because it was just them playing music and everyone dancing and singing. We had some Swedes on board and they were loving it! Who doesn't love ABBA!?! 🙂 After any themed event, they DJ would then start playing music and people would dance. I would rather just have that every night. Oh, and I don't think I even mentioned the midnight snack every night from Midnight to 1am. They would put out something like chicken fingers, or egg rolls or other bit size snack for people to help soak up that alcohol before going to bed. We don't eat that late so we can't comment on the quality but it was a nice touch late at night. (Again, don't mean to sound so negative. You might have a wonderful time at these themed get togethers. These type of activities just aren't for us.)

And I hope that my comments weren’t too negative. We had a wonderful time. We met a lot of interesting people and when the ship was under sails, it was magical. Truly, it brought tears to my eyes. The crew was very friendly and attentive. And I really appreciate the very patient Austrians who allowed me to practice my rudimentary German with them!

The folks we met on the ship and had dinner with the rest of the cruise wore jeans to dinner every night. It would be fine.

Food is really subjective. I’m glad you found it to your liking.

A little of both. I do think more people go ashore than I let on but yes a lot of people hang out on the loungers. You really can’t stay at the marina deck for too long as the current is usually pretty strong (where we were). In fact I swam with my flippers to make sure I was okay. And you do NOT need to bring your own beach towels. They are provided in your room, up on deck and at the marina platform.

We always stay at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort. We love it! 9 of us will be staying there March 24the before getting on the Apex. I splurged and booked the penthouse suite since it’s my hubby’s 60th. 🤪

Back to more questions: During the day, I wore flip flops. And I HATE wearing flip flops. No need to ever even wear sneakers on the boat. I only would put on sneakers to go ashore. I did pack dress shoes for dinner but I bet you could wear sneakers (not flip flops). You do need closed toe sneakers for climbing the mast or taking one of the tours of the ship. Dressing for dinner is a lot more relaxed. I wore short sleeve polos for dinner. (I guess that was it for questions) I know I commented on the food already but you will definitely not go hungry on this cruise! Breakfast is usually around 7:30 - 9:30 but there is a continental breakfast in the Piano bar starting at 6am. It has some pastries, tea and coffee for those early risers. The breakfast buffet is huge and has a lot of offerings. They have typical American food such as pancakes and sausage and eggs. But there is also many more selections include pastries and cheese and a cold fish dish and yogurt and fruit and and bunch of add ons. I usually stuck with yoghurt with fruit, honey and nuts. Lunch is from noon to 2pm with a different theme each day (Italian, Mediterranean, Oriental (?!!?!) for example. There are many different hot and cold dishes in accordance with the theme but then some other non theme items for a variety. And there was always lettuce and salad fixings with a few dressings to choose from. Then there was "Afternoon Snack" from 5-6pm in the Tropical Bar. They would set up a couple of tables and have a soup, some sandwiches, maybe something like a pasta dish plus fruit as well as cookies and brownies. Dinner started at 7:30 (which would cause heart palpitations for some "big ship" cruisers 🙂 ) but you didn't have to go then. It lasted until 10pm so we would go for cocktails at 7:30 and then hit the dinning room around 8:30. It was typical restaurant fare with a fish dish, steak, vegetarian, and one more. Appetizers were also the normal items and there would be a couple of desserts plus salad (after dinner) and cheese plate. They had examples of the entrees out for display in the piano bar so you could see them before you went down for dinner. Any other questions, i would be glad to answer.

{breaking this up so I don't lose it} It is definitely windy up on deck at night when we are sailing. Maybe a little cool too so bring a light sweater. But honestly, other than the first night because it was New Years Eve, there is nothing going on up on deck at night. A few times we thought the event they were holding in the tropical bar would have been better up on deck. We would go up there and walk around but we were the only ones. I think there could be spots that are less windy than others. We didn't find the "classes until the second to last day of the cruise. In the tropical bar there is white board with some things to do. They had a knot tying exhibition but there were two people who attending. To step away from the specific questions for a second... We felt that they act like all the passengers are returning guests. And there are a lot of them that are. The cruise director doesn't really provide ANY information to the passengers about anything going on. The daily newsletter is 1 page and doesn't really explain anything. We didn't know about the classes. We had no idea how dinner worked. We had no idea about the ports and what were beach stops and what were actual towns. We learned to just go with the flow, so just be aware. With only 200 passengers, everyone knew each other by the end of the cruise. As with any other group setting, some folks are friendlier than others. But for the most part, everyone gets pretty chummy as the week goes on. As I've said a few times before, there really isn't much to do. No one hangs out in the library and I barely saw anyone even sitting in the piano bar. Most people are up on deck during the day and in the Tropical Bar at night. In fact there is only one event each night that starts at 10pm in the Tropical Bar. So if you want to be social, you only have one thing to do to do so. But it does make for forced socialization and so everyone is doing things together. Another side note... Everything is presented in three languages; English, German and French. The daily newsletter is in all 3 languages, the safety video is in 3 languages and every announcement is 3 in languages. And there are more passenger languages as well. Beside those three we heard Italian, Russian and a few others we couldn't recognize. For someone learning German, it was great chance for me to practice!! Early in the cruise, folks with like languages tended to bunch together especially at meal times, but as the week progressed, folks started to mingle a lot more.

Okay, so I'm caught up with life and sitting here watching football. So what better time to run through my thoughts on the cruise. And as TheTwinsMom said, these are just my opinions or observations so if you are reading this, please don't let it affect your sailing. And that word is the #1 most amazing thing about a Royal Clipper cruise, it truly is a sailing. It is magical to be on the ship at night and have the sails up and being on the water. There are no water slides or casinos or stage shows. It's all about being on the water. So much so, that the ship rocks A LOT at night. There are handle bars in the shower for a reason!! And they have boards you can raise on the side of the bed so you don't fall out. And people used them! There are no stabilizers and you feed the waves. Let's go to the questions: Drink prices are VERY reasonable. $12 for two martinis. $3.50 for a beer. $20-$25 for a bottle of wine. But they do charge for sodas and water as well. Not expensive, but nothing is "free". There is a "water fountain" (bubbler if you from certain parts of the country) that you can fill up your empty water bottles from so I guess you could use that. But there also isn't the heavy pressure to drink alcohol throughout the day like on the "big ships". The bar is open but no one is going around taking drink orders. We never even started drinking each day until our pre-dinner cocktails. There were some people drinking all day but it wasn't the vibe. I would not say that there were any excursions that were exceptional. In fact they were more disappointing than fun. There are only a few to choose from. And the ports aren't very exciting either. We hardly went ashore and most of the people that did, came back saying that there wasn't much there. They say that this ship can go to places that the "big ships" can't. My response is that there is a reason that the ships don't come here and it's more than the depth of the harbor! 🙂 They also aren't in port very long. We did two stops most days with the afternoon being a beach stop. They anchor in a small harbor and tender people to a small beach for swimming and snorkeling. A lot of people just stay on the ship and relax. But yes, it's very easy to go ashore and walk around on your own. As other people have said, the times are very flexible. Travel is based on the wind and it make take longer to arrive in port. Some people had ECD but USD was accepted everywhere and you can always use credit cards. As someone stated, Internet is 18 Euros for 4 hours. Honestly, I didn't use all 4 hours because it was too slow to use for much of anything and it was nice to disconnect. We never needed bug spray nor did anyone else that I spoke to.

Back to the original discussion as I’ve taken us off topic. I’ve never been told on Princess, ever, that they wouldn’t open the dividers for us . Every single cruise they have opened them when we asked. I’ve never asked on Celebrity but I was assuming we won’t have push back this trip. I hope we don’t.

Each individual balcony is locked. The firefighter would have to get the allen wrench and unlock each and every balcony one at a time.

I call bullish!t on this. We were on the Star Princes fire cruise and that ship, and many prior to that, had balcony dividers that opened. Firefighters are not running down balconies putting out the fire. They are pouring water from above. In fact the reason for the extent of the fire was because they didn’t have automatic fire suppression (sprinklers) on the balconies themselves. The only room that had damage was one where the cabin fire suppression didn’t work. Princes ships now have fire suppression on the balconies and I make notice when I’m on a ship that doesn’t have it.

Yeah, we just ask the bartender to make them in the bigger glasses and they do. I tell them that it saves them a lot of work. 😜

I promise, I will answer all your questions tomorrow. But one thing I have to get off my chest is that the coffee everywhere is horrible! We were having coffee delivered to our room every morning thinking maybe that would be better and individually made. We changed to tea after day two. Every cup of coffee was undrinkable. In fact, and I know this is subjective, but the food on the ship was really bad. I ate salad for lunch every day. I will not cruise with them again because the food was so bad. BUT, I don’t regret the cruise at all. It was magical. But the food was forgettable. I’m sorry to say this when you have an upcoming cruise. The cruise is still great.

What about the Sky suites with real balconies on E class ships? We have 6 in a row on the Apex in March.

Awesome! I KNEW it had to be somewhere. There you go, OP. Now you can see what makes up your balance.

Wow. I was so expecting to go to the Celebrity website and show you where you can see the history that makes up your current balance. It's very simple on Princess to see that. But you are right, I can't find it anywhere. Does anyone know if Celebrity provides that information?

I do plan to do a larger write up this weekend but can answer this. I'll give you my experience since I've only be on one cruise with this line on the Royal Clipper. Not sure what ship you are on. First of all there are not many excursions in each port as there are with the "big ships". The cruise line is proud to say that they can reach into ports that the big ships can't. But that also means there isn't much to do in these ports! Again, not a bad thing but this cruise is MUCH more relaxed and we weren't running all around. Some ports have 2 excursions and others may have 3-5. But that's it! And the experience is VERY low tech. There are binders on a desk for each port with a piece of paper and you sign your name. That's it! Then you get "tickets" in your cabin the day before. Funny thing is that you never show your tickets to anyone. They have a list of those signed up and they check you off. Not sure what the point of the ticket is! 🙂 They are very low key excursions. We were never in port for more than a few hours as they did two ports every day. Some were just beaches where you could go ashore and swim or snorkel. We only did a couple of them and they were either catamaran snorkeling or a "taste of" for the location. A lot of people just stay on the ship and relax. And on the ship they have the marina platform where you can swim or use the paddle board and such. If you give me your exact cruise, I can give you more information on any ports that overlapped. I also have all the activities sheets that I'll scan if I get energetic.