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

[kirtihk]

16 minutes ago, BennyBrun said:

Day 6

 

Do NOT miss the buffet extravaganza!!!!  Grilled to order meats!  MEATS!  MEATS!  I don’t think any other cruise line does this at their buffet!

Very similar to how it was on our December 5, 2021cruise on the Edge.  I could eat only by "my eyes".

Edited January 13, 2022 by kirtihk

[BennyBrun]

Day 6

 

Desserts… yes they are shaving a block of chocolate like a gyro.

[BennyBrun]

Day 6

 

Spa Cafe Lunch… it pales in comparison but at least it’s healthier!!!

[BennyBrun]

Day 6

 

Best kept secret for a cup of freshly brewed coffee, espresso… self serve at lunch!  It brews one cup at a time!

[HMR74]

I have no way of comparing, but about 2-3 years ago the longer term X customers were talking about the quality of cuisine had declined on X. Still pretty good but not what it was.

 

I see a step up (or perhaps its a step back in time for x on the cuisine   to the good  old.days.

Presentation, choices, everything seems top level.

[cltcruisers123]

27 minutes ago, BennyBrun said:

Day 6

 

Do NOT miss the buffet extravaganza!!!!  Grilled to order meats!  MEATS!  MEATS!  I don’t think any other cruise line does this at their buffet!

Is this a everyday??? 🤤

[RedneckBob]

26 minutes ago, BennyBrun said:

Day 6

 

Do NOT miss the buffet extravaganza!!!!  Grilled to order meats!  MEATS!  MEATS!  I don’t think any other cruise line does this at their buffet!

Great pictures again. Me & DW had two filets at lunch buffets on our b2b Apex last month. They were great! You are right, no other cruise line does this for lunch and I have ate on all of them .

[kwokpot]

12 minutes ago, BennyBrun said:

Day 6

 

Spa Cafe Lunch… it pales in comparison but at least it’s healthier!!!

The Sesame noodles are spicy and very good. All three salads, the tuna, chicken and salmon, are also very good. The Quinoa bowl is good too!

[BennyBrun]

18 minutes ago, cltcruisers123 said:

Is this a everyday??? 🤤

The extravaganza happens once a cruise so make sure you double check with the server on your first day to confirm the actual day.  We don’t plan specialty dinning in extravaganza night or lobster tail night which is tonight by the way.

[BennyBrun]

9 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

The Sesame noodles are spicy and very good. All three salads, the tuna, chicken and salmon, are also very good. The Quinoa bowl is good too!

They are delicious! 

[BennyBrun]

19 minutes ago, RedneckBob said:

Great pictures again. Me & DW had two filets at lunch buffets on our b2b Apex last month. They were great! You are right, no other cruise line does this for lunch and I have ate on all of them .

We had steak, chops and chicken.  All delicious!  

[BennyBrun]

22 minutes ago, HMR74 said:

I have no way of comparing, but about 2-3 years ago the longer term X customers were talking about the quality of cuisine had declined on X. Still pretty good but not what it was.

 

I see a step up (or perhaps its a step back in time for x on the cuisine   to the good  old.days.

Presentation, choices, everything seems top level.

They must have a very distinct palette because I thought the food has been incredible pre pandemic and post pandemic.  Either that or I might not what I am tasting!!! 😂 

[BennyBrun]

Day 6

 

The sun is back out and the solarium is once again empty.  Matinee show at 2:30 followed by 7:30 pm show at the main theater and 9:30 pm show at the theater (musician / pianist) then performance at Eden (Night of enchantment) I wish we will be able to keep our eyes open for that because I want to see that but judging by the amount of food we are / we will be consuming I don’t think that is going to happen!!

[BennyBrun]

26 minutes ago, cltcruisers123 said:

Is this a everyday??? 🤤

Please let us know what you think of X and feel free to compare it to NCL because I have been on both.  I like to hear other people’s opinion but not being mean about it since every cruise line is different with different pricing strategy.

[bama4cruisin]

8 minutes ago, BennyBrun said:

We had steak, chops and chicken.  All delicious!  

I had a feeling you would enjoy . . . We certainly did on the TA last fall😊

[HMR74]

2 minutes ago, BennyBrun said:

They must have a very distinct palette because I thought the food has been incredible pre pandemic and post pandemic.  Either that or I might not what I am tasting!!! 😂 

Pre pandemic, and perhaps this is a difference between M/S and E class, it appears that the one MDR vs the 4 has resulted in upscale and the buffett too.  Mast Grill too.

I like a good old fashioned burger as much as anything at lunch  and the Mast Grill on S class as well as in MDR (at lunch) were kind of of uninspriing and your pictures the other day of Mast grill burgers showed a different level.

 

same for the deserts as well as the chocolate gyro station.

 

A lot of little things add up.

[SNJCruisers]

14 hours ago, taylortime05 said:

Have you tried all the speciality restaurants?  We're on the Apex next week and I kept the 4 night speciality package and I'm trying to finalize the restaurants to book when we get onboard.  

Like Benny, we too got the 4 night package.  Did two nights each at Fine Cuts and Eden.  We will be ending our 12 days on board with dinner at Eden.  It was the best meal I have had on 37 cruises since 1986.  Had the crab cake app, the lobster 🦞 casserole entree and the Meyer Lemon Tart for dessert as well as half of the butterscotch/carrot creme brulee that I shared with my DW.   Can't forget the amuse bouche to start and petit fours to end with my double espresso.

[scubarn1]

Benny, thanks for this wonderful trip report!

 

I noticed from your pictures no one wearing masks in the Solarium, I am assuming they are not mandating them in this area. 

 

Thanks!

[SNJCruisers]

3 hours ago, NY Mike said:

Since we are coming aboard on 1/15 and will continue on to the 1/22 sailing,  I was wondering what your experience was  between your 2 cruises.....  with regard to Covid testing.  When was it done and was it efficient?   It would be interesting to know what would happen if someone would test positive at that point.  I imagine they would not be able to continue on the next cruise and perhaps have to quarantine as well. Not sure if they explained that part

Thanks again for all your marvelous coverage . We are looking forward to Saturday

I will have to answer this one for Benny since I was on the B2B and he just started this great thread on the current sailing.

The Covid testing was done at 830 am on our last full day.  We had about 100 people on the B2B.  The procedure was painless and quick.  The nurse did not go up to our brains to get what she needed.  We had our results fairly quickly.  The turnaround procedure was very easy.  We met at 830, left the room by 845 and was off and back on in about an hour.  So we had the ship to ourselves for about an hour and a half.

There was a meeting that went over the details of the transition and when someone asked the moderator what would happen if someone in their party tested positive, she avoided the question like a politician.

In general, it's been a great B2B.  The only disappointment was not having the full entertainment ensemble back in Eden because of Covid.  The food has been over the top good.  Lunchtime options at Oceanview are abundant.  The last sea day includes grilled to order lamb chops, filets, etc.  Don't get that kind of stuff at the buffets on RCI, NCL, MSC or Carnival.

[KKB]

46 minutes ago, BennyBrun said:

Please let us know what you think of X and feel free to compare it to NCL because I have been on both.  I like to hear other people’s opinion but not being mean about it since every cruise line is different with different pricing strategy.

We have done 15 cruises, 5 on Celebrity & 1 on NCL (also Princess, RCCL & DCL).

We find them to be more alike than different & would cruise any of those lines again.

The Waterfront on the NCL Getaway was AMAZING--EVERY ship should have this! And their entertainment was awesome--shows, comedy &  bands. 

We had heard the food on NCL was "meh" but we were quite pleased with our MDR meals--and the dining entertainment was fun! Not something we would THINK we would like, but we did!

We did find X to be mellower than other lines on M & S class but NOT on E class! But we do agree that X is a step up from other lines, in ship, service & overall food.

Edited January 13, 2022 by KKB

[kirtihk]

2 minutes ago, KKB said:

We have done 15 cruises, 5 on Celebrity & 1 on NCL (also Princess, RCCL & DCL).

We find them to be more alike than different & would cruise any of those lines again.

The Waterfront on the NCL Getaway was AMAZING--EVERY ship should have this! And their entertainment was awesome--shows, comedy &  bands. 

We had heard the food on NCL was "meh" but we were quite pleased with our MDR meals--and the dining entertainment was fun! Not something we would THINK we would like, but we did!

We did find X to be mellower than other lines on M & S class but NOT on E class! But we do agree that X is a step up from other lines. 

With 40+ cruises (mainstream, premium, and luxury), among other mainstream lines Celebrity is by far the most close to luxury lines.

[librarylady19]

On 1/9/2022 at 12:39 PM, 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. 

The $15 included cocktails were so good we didn’t bother paying an up charge of $5 for the others. 

[RedneckBob]

42 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

Like Benny, we too got the 4 night package.  Did two nights each at Fine Cuts and Eden.  We will be ending our 12 days on board with dinner at Eden.  It was the best meal I have had on 37 cruises since 1986.  Had the crab cake app, the lobster 🦞 casserole entree and the Meyer Lemon Tart for dessert as well as half of the butterscotch/carrot creme brulee that I shared with my DW.   Can't forget the amuse bouche to start and petit fours to end with my double espresso.

Ditto, ditto ditto and more! 

Best meals at specialty dining plus MDR in all our cruises since 1492 on the Ninadam, Pintadam or Santa Maria Dam; actually since 1978 on HAL Noordam.

[tunaman2011]

2 hours ago, BennyBrun said:

Have a great cruise!!!  Remember stranger danger 😆 keep conversation to 10 minutes or less lol until the last day !

We were on the first Apex USA cruise back in October.  It was just a 4 day but it was fantastic.  We had been on Edge in Europe and then on it's 2nd USA cruise post pandemic and it was great but Apex was even a step above Edge (even though Edge had Captain Kate).  Thanks so much for reminding us how wonderful a ship she is.  Your great pictures have me wanting the next week to fly by so we can board her again.

 

Safe travels home

Tom

[NY Mike]

27 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

I will have to answer this one for Benny since I was on the B2B and he just started this great thread on the current sailing.

The Covid testing was done at 830 am on our last full day.  We had about 100 people on the B2B.  The procedure was painless and quick.  The nurse did not go up to our brains to get what she needed.  We had our results fairly quickly.  The turnaround procedure was very easy.  We met at 830, left the room by 845 and was off and back on in about an hour.  So we had the ship to ourselves for about an hour and a half.

There was a meeting that went over the details of the transition and when someone asked the moderator what would happen if someone in their party tested positive, she avoided the question like a politician.

In general, it's been a great B2B.  The only disappointment was not having the full entertainment ensemble back in Eden because of Covid.  The food has been over the top good.  Lunchtime options at Oceanview are abundant.  The last sea day includes grilled to order lamb chops, filets, etc.  Don't get that kind of stuff at the buffets on RCI, NCL, MSC or Carnival.

Thanks for the very comprehensive reply!  I'm not surprised about avoiding  the question about testing positive.... I kind of had the same when calling Celebrity.  Thanks again