hcat

I am looking forward to your post about the Old San Juan Culinary tour.. Aside from the food and bevs, is there alot of walking involved? OSJ can be hilly with cobblestones and don't want to risk stumbling!

thanks for confirming that we have a good plan.. Does Apex have a World Class Bar? or anything unuque compared to EDGE?

i am going to take a quick look at what's available..maybe something with New Orleans as a port ( non Mardi Gras) and with working A/C and toilets. We do not trvl with kiddos and are not interested in Universal..or Disney..maybe the Flower Show at EPCOT. TAMPA ZOO and Aquarium are very well known.. and enjoyed by many!

oh.. not good for us! we are on W coast Fl so its a shorter drive than other Fl Ports....we would still go a day or two ahead Tampa has so much to offer. .Zoo, Busch Gardens, Aquarium, Riverwalk, dining..etc We do anything to avoid driving across on I 4...

And way too much sauce covering food..We usually ask for it light or on the side so we can see what we are eating!

Aren't there certain ports that can only do M Class ships due to bridges, etc. ??? Thinking of Tampa which we have not tried due to age and condition of Connie. Wish a newer ship would berth there.

So far this is a very helpful review..even though we won't be in a suite. We had a very good experience at Fine Cut..1st night on ASCENT but have no need to return. Same for Rooftop.. very nice but once was enough. On APEX , we hope to book EDEN, Raw on 5, and the Bistro if it serves dinner or a late lunch meal without Le Petit Chef.... and see what other ideas come from this review and others. So far X is only offering packages ahead of time for APEX but it's early! Being in a SV we have the 4 mdrs so we will pick a fav and use that as our main dinner base...either Tuscan or Cyprus..the smaller ones. Hoping to hear more about the set shows, as solo entertainers change over time..

The afternoon session time for the pickle ball ended at 5:30 p.m... but a few hung around with activity staff past time. Our dinner res was for 6 p.m.and when we arrived it was distracting The Temp court is set up in the garden right next to the Rooftop dining area tables . Both are outdoors..no walls..You can clearly hear the plink plink plink etc ..not pleasant for dinner..But glad they finished up. The golf putting in EDEN ran over awhile..not 3 to 4 hrs..but long enough that our roll call get together was moved away from the bar area..no big deal...But my point is the sports set ups do impact areas that were designed as non sports venues . As a result, they were not available at certain times for just sitting, reading or relaxing or having a drink.. Hard to duplicate amenities found at land based resorts on a ship. Has nothing to do with marketing but usage of space...

looking forward to your APEX review.. we are booked on her for 1/25 in an SV

I have had very good onboard spa experiences, but at a certain point I will not go higher. I no longer tip extra and do not buy products..they add the svc charge to that as well. Prices in the perfume/ cosmetic store are much better if one is in need of a product.

Hope you had a great day!

no hammocks.. ship movenents can be felt back there

We have great therapeutic spas here in NY and Fl, but I enjoy spa time on ships but will skip it. ASCENT had much better offers!

I am a Cruise ship spa user (up til now). I generally book 3 services ahead to get the pre booking discount with included grat.. (basic massage, collagen facial and kerastase session.. nothing exotic or fancy) Clicked in today to pre book.. Prices for APEX Jan 2025, gave me some sticker shock! The prices with grat included are still high, but the main problem is that discounted slots are VERY limited! Like 1 pm on Sailaway Day..or late at night. Other times slots were hardly discounted at all, and were absurdly overpriced for what is included. Decided to just book a facial at a mid range high price for my birthday and that's all! I hope there may be a combo or decent specia offered on the ship. Prices for fancier treatnents or pseudo med spa services were really over the top! It's crazy!!

Bring on Carlos Santana..still going strong! next gen Reggae, and a good Buffet Tribute show.

Usually you will get a choc cake.. Need to call X and have rep mark yoyr res for nite u wish to Celebrate.. and remind maitre d a day ahead! if you decide on a Specialty Rest..they have great dessers so you could save the cake for a diff nite

Way too many sea days for us..and too long overall! 15 days was our max ..roundtrip to Hawaii from San Pedro on Summit when she was in her prime

Cool we still have those, plus cook books, recipe cards for food and drinks...and full sets of Royal C glasses too. Now most everything is for Sale. But I have the Art books No charge, and on ASCENT they gave postcard size portfolio of Art as well! Our first was Mercury too, after Summit was canx. Merc became our fav ship.. grear layout...brass, glass and beautiful wood..like a big yacht! Thanks for the memories!

informal pickle ball was still going after end time when we arrived at Rooftop for dinner..but they were nice enough to stop.. Golf putting also ran over ..we moved our roll call get together further back..worked ok Maybe they could find a sports space indoors for these activities. Ascent has a space you can rent out..maybe open it up as gen sports area..or use the Club.. on another note..many X PR and marketing campaigns have flopped in the past..Marco Polo, X the Rules GOOP... We just go with the flow!

We took a Ca Coastal cruise on Infinity some yrs ago, RT from San Pedro that included all the ports mentioned above.incl Monterrey and Santa Barbara . Ensenada was the foreign port. It was one of our fav cruises..Well worth flying west day ahead from NY..Every port was beautiful and had much to explore.. Guess we were lucky to have the experience ! We have enjoyed Mex Riviera cruises as well but would not book there now for safety and other reasons.

which is in better shape?

great pics..looks like a good show!

We did that once..not realizing it was Easter..Never again! Too crowded.

Green screen. or set backgrounds. Photos were taken indoors at night! I will ask my husb approx cost... You can buy indiv 8 x 10s (the size they sell), and get one of you and a portfolio with ship photo. Those display nicely and make nice keepsakes.. I do not know what they have on non- E Class ships..recently.

Cruising has changed but we still enjoy but only once or twice a year these days. We are lucky to have our regular and winter homes near water and beaches..but these places get crowded too. Some times it's better in ones own backyard!