APEX of our year, 12/3 — 12/10/22

[MLP12]

Great review!  So looking forward to going on my cruise on January 7.  Your review answered so many of questions.  Thank you.

[Sadebud]

Great review!  Thanks for taking the time to post!  I've sailed on a couple of the S class ships but am dying to sail on an Edge class.  Apex just may be the one!

[barbeyg]

3 hours ago, MLP12 said:

The hand sanitizer is a great idea.  I always wash before going inside, but then you have to touch all of the serving utensils, which kind of defeats the purpose.  

I agree.  Ken always comes up with the good ideas for keeping us healthy.  When Covid happened, he also started carrying gloves for pumping gas, and continues that.  Like he said, lots of people touch those nozzles.  Such simple solutions.  I work 7 days a week in January, so I have to stay well in the winter.  🙂

[jk04]

2 hours ago, barbeyg said:

he also started carrying gloves for pumping gas, and continues that.

I did that pre-covid and still do.  Cannot stand the smell of gas on my hands...

[karmamule]

One of my best purchases on Amazon was this bowl with lots of small hand sanitizer bottles. I keep it out in the kitchen of our home and in addition to everyday uses for ourselves and house guests,  any time we leave on some sort of trip it's easy to grab a couple bottles to take with us.

 

https://smile.amazon.com/PURELL-Advanced-Hand-Sanitizer-Refreshing/dp/B004T0GJDO/ref=sxts_rp_s_1_0?content-id=amzn1.sym.17af0c91-9bbd-4b60-8f2f-e62e6e6651a5%3Aamzn1.sym.17af0c91-9bbd-4b60-8f2f-e62e6e6651a5&crid=CE1CB3Z1UNMZ&cv_ct_cx=hand+sanitizer&keywords=hand+sanitizer&pd_rd_i=B004T0GJDO&pd_rd_r=9f060e01-71d1-417b-b9a0-1a1d9780a192&pd_rd_w=4ByoO&pd_rd_wg=pZHCR&pf_rd_p=17af0c91-9bbd-4b60-8f2f-e62e6e6651a5&pf_rd_r=SKD6YTAHVM9750SE0H9K&qid=1671040365&sprefix=hand+sanitizer%2Caps%2C81&sr=1-1-f0029781-b79b-4b60-9cb0-eeda4dea34d6

Edited December 14, 2022 by karmamule

[lizinindy]

Thanks for the great review. Had me re-living our Apex cruise last Feb. That Branzino in Eden...OMG!

[Luckynana]

Great review, Barb!  Thank you for taking us along!

[Cruise a holic]

Counting the days to our apex New Years eve b/2/b Apex cruises!  Thanks for sharing.

[TravelingCircusof5]

On 12/11/2022 at 3:22 PM, barbeyg said:

Suggest heading to the Martini Bar in evenings, even if you aren’t a drinker. We met the nicest people at the Martini Bar, and if the bartenders are still working their current contract, they are all great! 🙂  Don’t miss the entertainment there, and in the Eden Bar as well.  Hope you have a great cruise too. 

Do they have wine or champagne in the martini bar too? I can’t drink ‘hard liquor ’, but we love a great ambiance. 

[barbeyg]

3 minutes ago, TravelingCircusof5 said:

Do they have wine or champagne in the martini bar too? I can’t drink ‘hard liquor ’, but we love a great ambiance. 

They do.  My husband ordered several different wines there.  

[MLP12]

On 12/14/2022 at 12:54 PM, karmamule said:

One of my best purchases on Amazon was this bowl with lots of small hand sanitizer bottles. I keep it out in the kitchen of our home and in addition to everyday uses for ourselves and house guests,  any time we leave on some sort of trip it's easy to grab a couple bottles to take with us.

 

https://smile.amazon.com/PURELL-Advanced-Hand-Sanitizer-Refreshing/dp/B004T0GJDO/ref=sxts_rp_s_1_0?content-id=amzn1.sym.17af0c91-9bbd-4b60-8f2f-e62e6e6651a5%3Aamzn1.sym.17af0c91-9bbd-4b60-8f2f-e62e6e6651a5&crid=CE1CB3Z1UNMZ&cv_ct_cx=hand+sanitizer&keywords=hand+sanitizer&pd_rd_i=B004T0GJDO&pd_rd_r=9f060e01-71d1-417b-b9a0-1a1d9780a192&pd_rd_w=4ByoO&pd_rd_wg=pZHCR&pf_rd_p=17af0c91-9bbd-4b60-8f2f-e62e6e6651a5&pf_rd_r=SKD6YTAHVM9750SE0H9K&qid=1671040365&sprefix=hand+sanitizer%2Caps%2C81&sr=1-1-f0029781-b79b-4b60-9cb0-eeda4dea34d6

Thanks!  Love this idea

 

 

[terrydtx]

4 hours ago, TravelingCircusof5 said:

Do they have wine or champagne in the martini bar too? I can’t drink ‘hard liquor ’, but we love a great ambiance. 

I believe all bars offer beer, wine and champagne also mock cocktails with no liquor. 

[Rika1]

Thank you so much for this wonderful review! We will be boarding the Apex this coming Friday for the Christmas cruise, and I'm even more excited now after reading your vivid and detailed account of your week.

[barbeyg]

8 hours ago, Rika1 said:

Thank you so much for this wonderful review! We will be boarding the Apex this coming Friday for the Christmas cruise, and I'm even more excited now after reading your vivid and detailed account of your week.

Have a great cruise! 🙂 I’m still wishing I was back onboard. 

[librarylady19]

On 12/12/2022 at 8:05 AM, barbeyg said:

We had breakfast at Eden a couple of days. Intended to return, but there is a great breakfast at Luminae as well, plus we had the Elite breakfast at the Grand Bistro too.  We really needed a second week to try everything we wanted to.  
 

The breakfast at Eden is great. I had a wonderful breakfast sandwich, Ken had steel cut oats one day, and the breakfast sandwich the second time. We shared a fruit plate with that. 

That’s why we “had” to book a TA on Apex after a 5 night cruise. Definitely not enough time! Agree about Eden, nice lunches too. 

Edited December 17, 2022 by librarylady19

[Lastdance]

2 hours ago, librarylady19 said:

That’s why we “had” to book a TA on Apex after a 5 night cruise. Definitely not enough time! Agree about Eden, nice lunches too. 

We had 26 days on her and that was perfect, especially in a Sunset Suite and a. Sky Suit (Move Up.)  Doing the same for Spring TA on Beyond, but 21 days, along with 8 days in Sorrento. Hope this time we do not get Covid!

Edited December 17, 2022 by Lastdance

[dayzees13]

On 12/11/2022 at 1:49 PM, barbeyg said:

We were just reluctantly booted from Apex yesterday. They said something about new passengers that wanted to board….yada, yada, yada. 🙄

 

I am Barb, married to Ken.  Yes, people do remember our names all the time, even though I am personally awful with names myself.  We always cruise together, even though I’ve encouraged Ken to let me go alone sometimes to rack up extra loyalty points.  
 

I normally post on the RCI forums, since we have travelled with RCI for years.  We just experienced our first Celebrity cruise, and some friends here asked us to let them know how it was, so wanted to share here where it makes sense to do so.  Will try to group my thoughts together as much as I can.  
 

Why did we choose Celebrity? We have tossed around sailing with Celebrity for several years now.  After having our Harmony OTS cruise cancelled and moved to Wonder OTS, then our Wonder OTS cruise cancelled and the alternative offering was…well, lacking, we decided it was time to jump ship and booked a Celebrity sky suite on the Apex. 🙂

I will post the review over the next week or so, as I have time.  Sneak peak, this one rates up in our top 3 favorite cruises. 😁

I look forward to reading! We love RC as well but are considering Celebrity for an April cruise. 

[hwmyones]

Super random question, but we're doing the Apex on 1/14/23 and I'm trying to plan out our late day in Puerto Rico, does this ship change to local time for the stops in St. Kitts/Puerto Rico/Tortola or do they stay on Florida time? Thanks in advance! Great review!

[Texed]

24 minutes ago, hwmyones said:

we're doing the Apex on 1/14/23 and I'm trying to plan 

So are we.  😎

[barbeyg]

1 hour ago, hwmyones said:

Super random question, but we're doing the Apex on 1/14/23 and I'm trying to plan out our late day in Puerto Rico, does this ship change to local time for the stops in St. Kitts/Puerto Rico/Tortola or do they stay on Florida time? Thanks in advance! Great review!

I had to look back at the daily planner, and yes, we moved forward overnight Sunday into Monday before arriving in San Juan that Monday.   We changed back to Florida time later in the cruise on our way back. 
 

Edited December 28, 2022 by barbeyg

[Dreamer68]

On 12/13/2022 at 7:17 PM, barbeyg said:

Day 4

 

 

 

 

These Daily News info are precious! So helpful to get an idea in advance what's available to help me plan my stay on the Apex. Thanks a million! It'll be our 2nd time on Celebrity after the Summit to Bermuda back in 2016. Looking forward to getting onboard on the 7th of January! Question - do you know if the Inside Access (Behind the Scenes) tour now cost? We did this on the Summit in 2016 or something like a Galley tour and it was free. According to my Celebrity app, this Inside Access 2-hour tour is now over Cad$150 per adult. Ouch. 

PS - Happy belated birthday @barbeyg 🙂 

[barbeyg]

1 hour ago, Dreamer68 said:

These Daily News info are precious! So helpful to get an idea in advance what's available to help me plan my stay on the Apex. Thanks a million! It'll be our 2nd time on Celebrity after the Summit to Bermuda back in 2016. Looking forward to getting onboard on the 7th of January! Question - do you know if the Inside Access (Behind the Scenes) tour now cost? We did this on the Summit in 2016 or something like a Galley tour and it was free. According to my Celebrity app, this Inside Access 2-hour tour is now over Cad$150 per adult. Ouch. 

PS - Happy belated birthday @barbeyg 🙂 

Thanks for the birthday wishes. I didn’t check on the price for the tours this cruise, we were having a very laid back voyage this time, so I can’t say. Hope you have a great time!