Apex TA - Anybody on the Ship

[Suzyq99]

Anyone care to share their adventure on the Apex TA.  Please.

[cruisestitch]

Was there a Roll Call?  Try asking their

[MR_T]

It seems that nobody’s taken up the mantle to do a live from… the roll call was very active leading up to it but since it left there’s only been a couple of posts last time I checked. 

[PTC DAWG]

I admire those who are willing to "go live"...I know I would have zero interest in doing it myself.  

[markpc17]

Hello, am sailing on the Apex TA -- if you have any particular questions will answer.  Probably some of the reason there is little chatter so far has been the wifi has been sub-optimal.  In each port I'm just hooking up to my cellular connection with my international data package and that has worked great.  At least until we start the passage.  Hopeful for improvement.  At any rate, if any questions or curiosities let me know.  

[Suzyq99]

Hello Markpc17,  I would like to know how many people on are on this cruise.  Wanted to take this cruise but stranded on land and have to live your cruise.  Thank you.  Pictures maybe.

[Lastdance]

I hope everything improves for this time in 2022, as I have a b2b with TA...cannot wait!

[markpc17]

Hello--have head varying counts but one I did hear was a bit under 1,300.  I think it's fair to say no more then 50% capacity.  However, does matter where you are staying.  Many upgraded so it would appear for example the suites might be full.  Blu (which we upgraded from to the suites) looks quite busy as well in the evening at the restaurant.  So, while overall lower capacity it is pending where you are staying.  First night in the Luminae was a madhouse, but it has settled down since.  

 

We do need to wear masks at all times while onboard with the usual exceptions.  Not sure if that will change when we leave Spain.  

 

Food overall has been quite good.  

 

Wifi has been a disappointment.  

 

Ship does look great as expected.

 

[verizon]

13 hours ago, Suzyq99 said:

Hello Markpc17,  I would like to know how many people on are on this cruise.  Wanted to take this cruise but stranded on land and have to live your cruise.  Thank you.  Pictures maybe.

I can answer you that.

We have 1227 passengers onboard.

Its like a private yatch sailing across the pond.

smooth sailing so far and today is sea day heading to the Canaries island.

We have 13 Zeniths onboard and 6 first time Zenith.

Edited October 14, 2021 by verizon

[Suzyq99]

Hello, thank you for sharing total passengers.  The dining rooms must feel empty.  Enjoy your trip.

[morpheusofthesea]

How is it that the Apex is able to make this TA crossing ending in Ft. Lauderdale, while  other cruise lines are cancelling their November  TA due to US embargo of passengers from the UK and EU. Are all the passengers on this Apex TA US citizens?

[Suzyq99]

Yes, all the passengers are US citizens.  All non US citizens were canceled a short time before the cruise.

[markpc17]

The main dining rooms as expected while not empty definitely are fairly quiet.  Luminae has been quite busy, and when I walk by Blu it also seems busy.  I'm guessing all upgrade requests went through so these two classes are sailing probably closer to a fuller capacity.  In general around the ship it's certainly never crowded and plenty of space most everywhere.

 

As for all passengers being US citizens we have in some shows heard people say they are from other countries (not USA) but was at Guest Services a bit ago and they did mention passengers are leaving the ship in Tenerife (our last stop) so maybe some made part of the journey who are not US citizens?  Not sure but thought that was an interesting comment unless they are disembarking for other reasons.  

[morpheusofthesea]

Will these US guests on the Apex be  covid tested 3 days before arriving in Ft.Lauderdale, Florida ?

[ATLJC]

Can anyone find out how many crew members are currently on board? 

 

As Celebrity cannot import any new foreign nationals to crew its ships until the US travel embargo is lifted on November 8th, the amount of crew currently onboard would be an indication on how full they can book the Apex once it begins its FLL sailings in November.

[jagoffee]

17 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Will these US guests on the Apex be  covid tested 3 days before arriving in Ft.Lauderdale, Florida ?

Assuming that you mean no earlier than 3 days before arriving in Ft. Lauderdale, yes.  They told us that we will be tested a third time before our arrival in the U.S.  We were tested before we embarked in Barcelona (I do not know if anyone tested positive) and on our first sea day before our arrival at our first of two Canary Island stops.  The Captain reported all of those tests were negative.  
 

Our last two stops (Canary Islands)  required Celebrity Excursions only.  It was interesting that the large P &O ship in port with us yesterday did not have that restriction.

[morpheusofthesea]

3 hours ago, ATLJC said:

Can anyone find out how many crew members are currently on board? 

 

As Celebrity cannot import any new foreign nationals to crew its ships until the US travel embargo is lifted on November 8th, the amount of crew currently onboard would be an indication on how full they can book the Apex once it begins its FLL sailings in November.

Your reply begs the question, How is Celebrity going to start up the Reflection scheduled for its first passenger voyage November 6, 2021 ? With an all American staff? (Hardly think so). I was told first sailing of Reflection would be Nov.13,2021, but your statement even contradicts that sailing from happening as well. I discovered that present staff on board sailing ships are not fully vaccinated yet, many with only their first jab/shot.

[morpheusofthesea]

2 hours ago, jagoffee said:

 

Our last two stops (Canary Islands)  required Celebrity Excursions only.  It was interesting that the large P &O ship in port with us yesterday did not have that restriction

Perhaps P&O is not doing a TA to the US so they do not have to be as cautious. What would the world think if the Apex doing a TA coming to US, Ft .Lauderdale during a ban on flights of foreign nationals, and 2 days before docking in the US there is an outbreak ?

[jagoffee]

22 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Perhaps P&O is not doing a TA to the US so they do not have to be as cautious. What would the world think if the Apex doing a TA coming to US, Ft .Lauderdale during a ban on flights of foreign nationals, and 2 days before docking in the US there is an outbreak ?

Do you actually think that anyone on this cruise thinks that the P&O is doing a TA?  Celebrity stated that the requirement to take Celebrity excursions was being dictated by the Spanish government.  We were able to do independent excursion in the previous two Spanish port calls on this itinerary. The science behind the decision is not clear.

 

As far as I know, the crew has been restricted from entering any of the ports.

 

The restrictions has not negatively affected anything about this cruise for us.  I just found it interesting.  
 

[jagoffee]

I should also add that we also had to booke Celebrity Excursions only in Cadiz.

 

 

Captain just announced that per the CDC as we leave our last port for the crossing, face masks will no longer be required. (You can still wear one if you wish).

 

Perhaps the port restrictions were related to this possibility.

 

We all get to see smiling faces again.

Edited October 16, 2021 by jagoffee

[morpheusofthesea]

38 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

Perhaps P&O is not doing a TA to the US so they do not have to be as cautious

Scratch the word "Perhaps" in the front of my statement. "P&O is not doing a TA to the US so they do not have to be as cautious."

[morpheusofthesea]

26 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

Captain just announced that per the CDC as we leave our last port for the crossing,

I might also guess that this being a closely monitored TA by the CDC, the CDC is on board.

[cruisedoctor]

On 10/16/2021 at 11:59 AM, ATLJC said:

Can anyone find out how many crew members are currently on board? 

 

As Celebrity cannot import any new foreign nationals to crew its ships until the US travel embargo is lifted on November 8th, the amount of crew currently onboard would be an indication on how full they can book the Apex once it begins its FLL sailings in November.

There are approximately 1225 crew on board for the crossing.

[jagoffee]

The internet is almost nonexistent on this cruise even the high end streaming version.  I occasionally can get on for a few minutes at a time.  Even e mails are a struggle.  Obviously something is wrong.

 

This might be the reason that you are not hearing much from us.

[markpc17]

The internet/wifi stinks on this sailing so far.  If you don't rely on it, no big deal. If you do, wow, it has been terrible.  The worst I've had in probably the last 5+ years on a variety of Celebrity, RCCL, Viking, Crystal, etc...  we count on it for work especially on sea days and haven't encountered anything like this in years especially on what should be the newest most up-to-date ship.  We paid for the Stream upgrade as well which was not a small investment.