Live Review Apex 1/8/2022 - 1/15/2022 Virtual Cruise Plenty of Pictures.

[BennyBrun]

23 minutes ago, TeaBag said:

Thank you so much for all your wonderful pictures and detailed account.  ever thought of being a travel agent on the side?  You have sold us on this lovely ship.  Frankly i think you have done a better job than they did on the webinar!  Now for the serious question, how on earth are you going to leave this beautiful ship?

Thank you son much.  I am glad that you are enjoying my review.  I like photo reviews so people can judge for themselves.  Not a fan of over the top click bait travel reviews.

 

it’s going to be hard to say farewell but we have Oasis of the Sea at the end of January to look forward to so we will try to hang in there.  Please come along and join another virtual cruise.  It’s going to be a different tone than the current reviews on Royal’s board.

[Peery5]

38 minutes ago, BennyBrun said:

Day 2

 

Upscale shopping by Eden… I felt like I was at the shopping mall at city center next to the Aria in Las Vegas.

Where are the smoking sections on apex?  We board on the 15th.

[BennyBrun]

18 minutes ago, Birdnutty said:

It looks to me like you can serve yourself?  I thought the staff had to serve everything so the pax didn't touch the tongs.  Those desserts.... groan......

No … you have to wait for a server.  NO self serving!  Yes you might have to wait a few seconds but I like it this way.

[BennyBrun]

2 minutes ago, Peery5 said:

Where are the smoking sections on apex?  We board on the 15th.

They are scattered through out the ship but the nicest section is on deck 6 outside eden.

[BennyBrun]

23 minutes ago, Birdnutty said:

Are there any secret entrances to Eden from deck 6 aft?  There looks like there could be - similar to the Anthem of the Seas back upper entrance to 270 Lounge. That was a very handy way for us to get there when our cabin was on deck 6.    Just curious.

 

Not that it matters, actually, because some threads were indicating that is the area they are reserving for Covid isolation/quarantine.    Does that appear to be the case to you?  

I have not found any secret entrances but I am trying not to wonder away from the public areas to the staterooms and deck 6 and deck 3.  I do not want to be identified or misidentified by camera to be closed contact traced accidentally.  I did overhear one person sitting at guest relations talking to the officers about the isolation process and asked why it’s so long.

[SNJCruisers]

23 hours ago, Birdnutty said:

  Terrified of the PCR test pre-cruise,

I would not do the PCR test since there is no guarantee that the results will be back within 48 hours.  The rapid test is more desirable.  CVS and Walgreens in many sections of the country are offering it.  Walk in clinics near you could be offering it as well.  I had used clinics on January 1 and had a backup appointment with CVS the morning of 1/2 and a back up to the back up with Walgreens later that morning.

[BennyBrun]

Day 2

 

Walk the walk… outside walking around the ship.

[BennyBrun]

Day 2 

 

Magic Carpet

[SNJCruisers]

17 hours ago, BennyBrun said:

Day 1

 

9:30 Show time at the theater… Rich Aronovitch!  It’s probably 5% full at 9:25PM.

We went to the 730 show.  Maybe 125 people, with many showing up late and of course got busted about it by Rich.  

[SNJCruisers]

16 hours ago, sillypuppy said:

We are booked for Jan 29 but still not too sure……..really enjoying this post though - thank you!  Can you tell me if there was a silent disco! 

Yes, on day five of our five day sailing they had it set up in the Martini Bar area and they had it again last night on day one in the Club.  Each time they had three channels to one was oldies (70's-80's) and the other channels were more contemporary.

[SNJCruisers]

9 hours ago, #55worktoplay said:

Benny, I am enjoying your review and your pictures are great. 
 

I have never sailed Celebrity but this ship looks beautiful and with so few passengers it must be great to be on board. I think I would love it and am quite envious. 
 

Thanks, enjoy!

The best thing about the Apex is that there is no traditional MDR.  Instead there are four, Tuscan (Italian), Cosmopolitan (American), Cyprus (Mediterranean), & Normandie (French).  Each location has there own specialty menu that remains constant for that venue only.  There is also the classic menu that remains constant all of  the time at all four venues such as french onion soup, caesar salad and shrimp cocktail under apps and ny strip steak, chicken breast and grilled salmon for entrees.  In addition there are the daily choices that are constant in all four venues but change in a daily basis.  The bottom line is that you have 10 apps and 10 entrees to choose from on a daily basis.

[Lastdance]

Looks like a ghost ship, but I am sure the eating and drinking is happening in other venues!

[SNJCruisers]

9 hours ago, RedneckBob said:

He was on our 12/04/2021 Apex cruise and was very funny. The X rated show was very X rated. During his X show he noticed two young women in the audience on their smart phones during his act and he went full scale XXX with them and the audience loved it.

Was it in the main showroom or the Club?  Last week the R rated was in the smaller club.  Thanks

[SNJCruisers]

6 hours ago, RedneckBob said:

Tough I have seen mixed reviews we got great steaks at Fine Cut Restaurant; 6 and 9 oz filets were excellent. Ate there three times in 14 days!

We ate there last night.  I had the butter poached lobster tail and coupled it with the 6 oz filet.  Had shrimp cocktail and peppered bacon as apps.  Tough to take, lol.

[BennyBrun]

2 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

We ate there last night.  I had the butter poached lobster tail and coupled it with the 6 oz filet.  Had shrimp cocktail and peppered bacon as apps.  Tough to take, lol.

How was the food?  We are scheduled there in a few days!

[BennyBrun]

10 minutes ago, Lastdance said:

Looks like a ghost ship, but I am sure the eating and drinking is happening in other venues!

I hope so.  We were at Eden Cafe and Oceanview cafe and it’s pretty empty.

[SNJCruisers]

4 hours ago, BennyBrun said:

I was told I might not be able to post on CC due to the classic Wi-Fi but so far so good!

I could not post last week and even lost reading possibilities halfway through the cruise.  Was disappointed that I could not forward immediate information regarding current activities on board.  Luckily things are different now.

[NavyCruiser]

Thanks for the awesome post & pics.

Just got off the same sailing yesterday.

My few comments:

Awesome ship!!!

Awesome service!!!

Since Nassau port was cancelled on the last day, our non-refundable OBC $ for shore excursion were reapplied to our room acct & can't be cashed out, it must be used onboard that last day, I was looking at another Montblanc store ball point pen at $385 tax-free, great lower price than anywhere I've seen, but settled on the $220 Montblanc PIX ballpoint pen.

The last night's show, Rockumentary, was the best show ever, in our 35+ cruises.  Awesome band played the best rock n roll classics ever.

There were 3 smoking areas onboard, my fav place to smoke the Dominican cigars we picked up in Puerto Plata Dom, was the 15th deck midship deck, which was almost fully enclosed nice relaxing smoking area.

[SNJCruisers]

4 hours ago, gizmodog said:

Is there any way you can find out the number of guest on the next cruise? Doing a back to back and am quite nervous about cruising at this time. I’m sure there probably is no way but if you can I would so appreciate it. Thank you.

This week is 1065, last week was 1300.  Next week is anybody's guess because things are so fluid.  We got our cabin upgraded last week because of a last minute cancellation.  Their room keys were in the mailbox at 545 when we switched cabins.

[SNJCruisers]

3 hours ago, mocruzer said:

Really enjoying your review and great pictures.  With so few people onboard, I'm sure service is top notch😊

With more crew than passengers on board, it's a safe assumption that the service is great.

[SNJCruisers]

3 hours ago, kwokpot said:

That's actually a great idea that wasn't done when I was on the ship. It's actually kinda awkward to know where to put the thing without it getting in the way or getting dirty, so the bag is a great solution.

They are using the same bags as the treats from Cafe Al Bacio go into.  By the way, the almond croissants are to die for.  Nicely washed down with a double espresso over ice with Baileys.

[SNJCruisers]

3 hours ago, BennyBrun said:

 

 

Interesting art that would not be appreciated in the bible belt.

[mocruzer]

12 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

We got our cabin upgraded last week because of a last minute cancellation. 

Did you pay to upgrade, or was it free?  

[SNJCruisers]

2 hours ago, taylortime05 said:

If you get a drink priced over the premium drink pkg limit, do you pay the difference?   Thank you so much for sharing your cruise with us. 

Yes, plus 20% gratuity.

[SNJCruisers]

2 hours ago, RedneckBob said:

Where are all the other passengers? None in your photos.

 

By the way, those hanging chairs in Eden are very relaxing but very hard to get out of especially if you have a very low center of gravity. 😄

1065 on board.  Very easy to social distance during the day