Not so short Apex review. 12/17-23

[20165]

I tried to keep this short and sweet and failed...

We were on Apex 12/17-23 and had a great time.  We were also on Silhouette a month ago so you will see some comparisons in this review to that.  Little about us, we are in our early 50s traveling with our 2 teenage boys, 19/16yo.  We both had Infinite verandah cabins on deck 9 with a connection door.  We have cruised a lot. First one being on the original Marti Gras in 1980 when I was 10.  We grew up in FL and have been on pretty much every mainstream cruise line.

Day before trip and Embarkation – We flew down the day before the cruise and stayed at the AC hotel in Ft Lauderdale which was very close to the cruise terminal.  Nice, new hotel that was in walking distance to quite a few restaurants.  No issues with the flight, or stay at the hotel.  Next day we left the hotel at 11, and got the pier about 11:20.  Our check-in time was 12.  We checked our bags with the porter and basically walked right on the ship.  No lines at security or checking in with the handheld devices.  We went to our room and dropped our bags and were at the buffet before noon.  I don’t think they could have made the check-in process easier.

Ship – Very nice and very new.  My wife and I preferred the silhouette but our kids liked the Apex, although they weren’t on silhouette with us so they really didn’t have that comparison.  The Silhouette just seemed easier to navigate.  The magic carpet was a little gimmicky, but it was nice to tender from it in grand cayman. They had a great gym which the kids appreciated. The pool area what bigger than other ships we have been on, but the hot tubs were in an odd location. 2 decks above the pool deck.  Kinda hard to figure out how to get to, but also probably cut down on the number of people using them because it was a hike to get up there.

Cabins – Hmm, im still pondering if I liked them over a regular balcony.  We had the infinite veranda cabins and when we fist got there, it was really cool, but we only ended up opening the window 3-4 times because it just made the cabin too hot and humid.  However, I did like the extra room that was considered the balcony. Also, the tech in the room was awesome.  Being able to control everything from your phone was great and the USB ports were plentiful.  Overall, I probably would book an infinite veranda over a traditional balcony all things being equal. I guess both have their pros and cons.  I will say those folding doors between the veranda and the rest of the room were useless.  Didn’t block out any light so I really cant figure out what they are there for.  Maybe it would have kept the room cooler if the window was open??

Food – This is where there were some disappointments.  We did 3 specialty restaurants, La Petit chef, Eden and the steakhouse two times.  All were great, the steakhouse being the best in our opinion and reason we did it twice.  The other reason was the MDR was not good at all.  Seemed very short staffed and both times the food arrived cold.  I don’t know if they were short staffed by design to push you toward the specialty restaurants or they just didn’t have enough staff.  Luckily we were able to get reservation at the steak house the last night because it was either that or the buffet…  Nothing against the MDR staff, but you could tell they were scrambling.  The steakhouse and Eden were outstanding.  La Petite was, well you know, dinner and a show…

So, fun fact about the food, my oldest son has a severe peanut allergy and somehow got some in one of his dishes.  We specifically buy the insurance for just this reason so we immediately went to medical.  Got the usual steroid shot, Benadryl and something else, cant remember, spent about an hour down there after that to be observed and all of that was no charge because it happened in one of their restaurants.  We even told them we had the insurance, but they said any food allergies caused by the ship were no charge to treat. 

Second fund fact, I asked the question before the cruise about our 19yo being able to drink on the ship given on NCL he was allowed to order beer and wine.  On Apex, as long as he was with us, they let him drink whatever her wanted.  Wine at dinner, pre dinner drinks, etc.  He didn’t go crazy, but it was a much more relaxed atmosphere when it came to serving someone under 21. 

Shore excursions – Key West, did the Fury snorkel.  Was great, we also did it the month before on silhouette so we knew what to expect.  Cozumel we did scuba, also wonderful and very close to the ship which was nice.  Grand Cayman we did the shipwreck snorkel.  Was ok.  Seemed rushed and the boat was packed.  Would have rather spent a little more for less people and more attentive boat crew. I can give more detail if anyone is interested in any of these excursions.

Sea days – We rented a cabana the first sea day and I highly recommend it.  We unsuccessfully tried to get it for the second sea day…  It was $300 and included a bottle of Vodka or champagne food, beverages, etc.  It was awesome.  Only downside is we would leave for the pool and come back to find people in our cabana.  Our waiter did a great job of shewing them away, but it had to be done several times during the day.  I think part of the problem is there is a walkway between cabanas.  I think the new ship they turned them around to face the pool which im sure would have helped.  Anyway, even with the rude people, we would still do it again.  Made the sea day very enjoyable.

Disembarkation – This is where it went sideways.  Getting off the ship was super easy and our flight wasn’t until 1:30 so no rush.  We tried to wait until the very end and ended up getting off around 9:30.  We were at the airport by 10:30 checked in and at the gate.  Then the flight was cancelled and we ended up renting a car and driving 12 hours home… Im sure it happened to a lot of people.  In fact, when we got to Charlotte airport to drop off the rental and pick up our car, there was another FL car that was just turned in doing the same thing.  I travel a lot for work and very rarely does my flight get cancelled, but of course it had to happen to the family when we were coming back from vacation…  Oh well, all worked out and the AA has already refunded our money which is great and unexpected. I expected a fight.

 

Overall, we love Celebrity but aren’t exclusive with them.  Our scheduled dictates our cruise lines, with the exception of Carnival, we wont ever sail them again.  I think we are done with RCL and NCL because our kids did like the more adult atmosphere of celebrity, but I think they would also get that on HAL and Princess. 

 

[Shiba_Lover]

That sounds like a great trip!

[TravelingCircusof5]

1 hour ago, 20165 said:

I think we are done with RCL and NCL because our kids did like the more adult atmosphere of celebrity, but I think they would also get that on HAL and Princess

Interesting. We are doing our first X soon (Beyond) childless, but I would like to take our boys next time 24, 22 and 15. They have long ago outgrown DCL. They do like a sophisticated atmosphere, but I did wonder if they would be bored- especially the 15 year old. I just wondered what they would do during the day, and if RCCL would be a better choice. But I don’t want to end up in drunken party atmosphere - especially of Carnival. What did your boys find to do during the day?

[Texed]

20165,

We will be on Apex for the January 7th and 14th cruises.  So, we appreciate your report.  😊

[Koohiichan]

Thanks for sharing. Really appreciate your report on the cabanas, too. I’m surprised that Celebrity doesn’t do a better job managing access to the inside of the cabana. Did they not have any signs showing “reserved” etc.? Or were people actually hoping they could just sneak in unnoticed? For me, I hope to avoid the uncomfortable part of telling people to get out of my cabana. LOL!

[MLP12]

We are sailing on Apex January 7.  In regard to the infinite balcony...If you are sitting on the balcony part with the window open, the room gets hot and humid?  There is no way to prevent this?  In your opinion, how was the food in the buffet?   

[20165]

1 hour ago, Koohiichan said:

Thanks for sharing. Really appreciate your report on the cabanas, too. I’m surprised that Celebrity doesn’t do a better job managing access to the inside of the cabana. Did they not have any signs showing “reserved” etc.? Or were people actually hoping they could just sneak in unnoticed? For me, I hope to avoid the uncomfortable part of telling people to get out of my cabana. LOL!

Oh yes, signs with our names on them.  and it was uncomfortable.  Fortunately our waiter did the dirty work for us.  Must be pretty common because he seemed pretty good at it.

[20165]

7 minutes ago, MLP12 said:

We are sailing on Apex January 7.  In regard to the infinite balcony...If you are sitting on the balcony part with the window open, the room gets hot and humid?  There is no way to prevent this?  In your opinion, how was the food in the buffet?   

really no way to prevent the cabin getting hot with that window open.  Fortunately its december so it was terrible, but there was no way my wife would allow it to be open when she was getting ready for dinner. Possibly if you close the slider doors it may have helped, but if you do that you cant see out anyway because its frosted glass.

Buffet food was awesome. I would have to say one of the best buffets we have encountered. 

[20165]

2 hours ago, TravelingCircusof5 said:

Interesting. We are doing our first X soon (Beyond) childless, but I would like to take our boys next time 24, 22 and 15. They have long ago outgrown DCL. They do like a sophisticated atmosphere, but I did wonder if they would be bored- especially the 15 year old. I just wondered what they would do during the day, and if RCCL would be a better choice. But I don’t want to end up in drunken party atmosphere - especially of Carnival. What did your boys find to do during the day?

It was kind of a bummer not having some of the amities as the bigger RCL ships for the kids, especially my 19yo, hes really into video games and the NCL ship we were on last year had VR room, however, they both said they preferred not having those options for a more laid back, less small kid experience on Celebrity.

[Koohiichan]

5 hours ago, 20165 said:

Oh yes, signs with our names on them.  and it was uncomfortable.  Fortunately our waiter did the dirty work for us.  Must be pretty common because he seemed pretty good at it.

I get it. A different kind of uncomfortable. ; ) 

[Crazy planning mom]

9 hours ago, 20165 said:

I tried to keep this short and sweet and failed...

We were on Apex 12/17-23 and had a great time.  We were also on Silhouette a month ago so you will see some comparisons in this review to that.  Little about us, we are in our early 50s traveling with our 2 teenage boys, 19/16yo.  We both had Infinite verandah cabins on deck 9 with a connection door.  We have cruised a lot. First one being on the original Marti Gras in 1980 when I was 10.  We grew up in FL and have been on pretty much every mainstream cruise line.

Day before trip and Embarkation – We flew down the day before the cruise and stayed at the AC hotel in Ft Lauderdale which was very close to the cruise terminal.  Nice, new hotel that was in walking distance to quite a few restaurants.  No issues with the flight, or stay at the hotel.  Next day we left the hotel at 11, and got the pier about 11:20.  Our check-in time was 12.  We checked our bags with the porter and basically walked right on the ship.  No lines at security or checking in with the handheld devices.  We went to our room and dropped our bags and were at the buffet before noon.  I don’t think they could have made the check-in process easier.

Ship – Very nice and very new.  My wife and I preferred the silhouette but our kids liked the Apex, although they weren’t on silhouette with us so they really didn’t have that comparison.  The Silhouette just seemed easier to navigate.  The magic carpet was a little gimmicky, but it was nice to tender from it in grand cayman. They had a great gym which the kids appreciated. The pool area what bigger than other ships we have been on, but the hot tubs were in an odd location. 2 decks above the pool deck.  Kinda hard to figure out how to get to, but also probably cut down on the number of people using them because it was a hike to get up there.

Cabins – Hmm, im still pondering if I liked them over a regular balcony.  We had the infinite veranda cabins and when we fist got there, it was really cool, but we only ended up opening the window 3-4 times because it just made the cabin too hot and humid.  However, I did like the extra room that was considered the balcony. Also, the tech in the room was awesome.  Being able to control everything from your phone was great and the USB ports were plentiful.  Overall, I probably would book an infinite veranda over a traditional balcony all things being equal. I guess both have their pros and cons.  I will say those folding doors between the veranda and the rest of the room were useless.  Didn’t block out any light so I really cant figure out what they are there for.  Maybe it would have kept the room cooler if the window was open??

Food – This is where there were some disappointments.  We did 3 specialty restaurants, La Petit chef, Eden and the steakhouse two times.  All were great, the steakhouse being the best in our opinion and reason we did it twice.  The other reason was the MDR was not good at all.  Seemed very short staffed and both times the food arrived cold.  I don’t know if they were short staffed by design to push you toward the specialty restaurants or they just didn’t have enough staff.  Luckily we were able to get reservation at the steak house the last night because it was either that or the buffet…  Nothing against the MDR staff, but you could tell they were scrambling.  The steakhouse and Eden were outstanding.  La Petite was, well you know, dinner and a show…

So, fun fact about the food, my oldest son has a severe peanut allergy and somehow got some in one of his dishes.  We specifically buy the insurance for just this reason so we immediately went to medical.  Got the usual steroid shot, Benadryl and something else, cant remember, spent about an hour down there after that to be observed and all of that was no charge because it happened in one of their restaurants.  We even told them we had the insurance, but they said any food allergies caused by the ship were no charge to treat. 

Second fund fact, I asked the question before the cruise about our 19yo being able to drink on the ship given on NCL he was allowed to order beer and wine.  On Apex, as long as he was with us, they let him drink whatever her wanted.  Wine at dinner, pre dinner drinks, etc.  He didn’t go crazy, but it was a much more relaxed atmosphere when it came to serving someone under 21. 

Shore excursions – Key West, did the Fury snorkel.  Was great, we also did it the month before on silhouette so we knew what to expect.  Cozumel we did scuba, also wonderful and very close to the ship which was nice.  Grand Cayman we did the shipwreck snorkel.  Was ok.  Seemed rushed and the boat was packed.  Would have rather spent a little more for less people and more attentive boat crew. I can give more detail if anyone is interested in any of these excursions.

Sea days – We rented a cabana the first sea day and I highly recommend it.  We unsuccessfully tried to get it for the second sea day…  It was $300 and included a bottle of Vodka or champagne food, beverages, etc.  It was awesome.  Only downside is we would leave for the pool and come back to find people in our cabana.  Our waiter did a great job of shewing them away, but it had to be done several times during the day.  I think part of the problem is there is a walkway between cabanas.  I think the new ship they turned them around to face the pool which im sure would have helped.  Anyway, even with the rude people, we would still do it again.  Made the sea day very enjoyable.

Disembarkation – This is where it went sideways.  Getting off the ship was super easy and our flight wasn’t until 1:30 so no rush.  We tried to wait until the very end and ended up getting off around 9:30.  We were at the airport by 10:30 checked in and at the gate.  Then the flight was cancelled and we ended up renting a car and driving 12 hours home… Im sure it happened to a lot of people.  In fact, when we got to Charlotte airport to drop off the rental and pick up our car, there was another FL car that was just turned in doing the same thing.  I travel a lot for work and very rarely does my flight get cancelled, but of course it had to happen to the family when we were coming back from vacation…  Oh well, all worked out and the AA has already refunded our money which is great and unexpected. I expected a fight.

 

Overall, we love Celebrity but aren’t exclusive with them.  Our scheduled dictates our cruise lines, with the exception of Carnival, we wont ever sail them again.  I think we are done with RCL and NCL because our kids did like the more adult atmosphere of celebrity, but I think they would also get that on HAL and Princess. 

 

Thanks for the review.  We aren't sailing until 2024.  Hopefully, they get the MDR situation improved by then.

[kwokpot]

8 hours ago, MLP12 said:

We are sailing on Apex January 7.  In regard to the infinite balcony...If you are sitting on the balcony part with the window open, the room gets hot and humid?  There is no way to prevent this?  In your opinion, how was the food in the buffet?   

No, because the HVAC shuts off whenever the window is down. The bifold doors are soley a cosmetic device to simulate a separate room when you close them. Think of them as room dividers. 

[Shadow9612]

Great review - thank you.   I've been on the Silhouette (my favourite Ship) but not yet an E class....

[Cruise a holic]

16 hours ago, Koohiichan said:

Thanks for sharing. Really appreciate your report on the cabanas, too. I’m surprised that Celebrity doesn’t do a better job managing access to the inside of the cabana. Did they not have any signs showing “reserved” etc.? Or were people actually hoping they could just sneak in unnoticed? For me, I hope to avoid the uncomfortable part of telling people to get out of my cabana. LOL!

That is one reason we nixed a cabana.  Do not like the idea of the fact that they are off a public hallway- feel like a caged animal in the zoo.  We did enjoy the cabana's on the S class ships.  Private.  Didn't miss the fact that they faced the lawn.

[20165]

9 hours ago, Shadow9612 said:

Great review - thank you.   I've been on the Silhouette (my favourite Ship) but not yet an E class....

To be fair, when we were on Silhouette last month, it was only about 60% full which im sure factored into our experience.  Im pretty sure Apex was 100% full last week given the holiday. 

[karmamule]

Thanks much for this! We're on the Apex this January so it was helpful to hear someone else's view on it. I was debating if we'd want to try hitting up a couple of the MDRs to see what they're like during our cruise but you have me reconsidering that. Maybe we'll stick to specialty restaurants.

[Oxo]

4 minutes ago, karmamule said:

Thanks much for this! We're on the Apex this January so it was helpful to hear someone else's view on it. I was debating if we'd want to try hitting up a couple of the MDRs to see what they're like during our cruise but you have me reconsidering that. Maybe we'll stick to specialty restaurants.

Opinions are just that. We just got off of the Apex on Dec 3 and ate in the MDR every night. Never had a bad meal or service! The Specialty Restaurants are overpriced!

We only cruised on RCI, MSC, NCL and Celebrity this year for a total of 9 cruises. Yes, Celebrity will give you a discount of 10 or 20%, but still overpriced! JMHO!

We have done Specialty Restaurants on the other 8 cruises this year. UDP on RCI, 2 on MSC, 10 out of 14 days on NCL. So, we are speaking with our current experiences. 

Apex has 4 MDRs and they all can't be fair/poor. 

 

Who 's opinion is more valid? Only yours will count. Enjoy the Apex. It was our best out of the 9 cruises this year. 

[Dar & Bob]

@20165 you said that the MDR service and food wasn't good.  The Apex has 4 dining rooms, did you only try one?  Just curious

[gfkcruiser]

21 hours ago, 20165 said:

really no way to prevent the cabin getting hot with that window open.  Fortunately its december so it was terrible, but there was no way my wife would allow it to be open when she was getting ready for dinner. Possibly if you close the slider doors it may have helped, but if you do that you cant see out anyway because its frosted glass.

Buffet food was awesome. I would have to say one of the best buffets we have encountered. 

We sail on the Apex in April and would only go with a Sunset Veranda with traditional balcony.  Only other choice for true balcony is suite and I didn't want to pay the fare for that.  Will be first time on E class.  

[20165]

1 minute ago, Dar & Bob said:

@20165 you said that the MDR service and food wasn't good.  The Apex has 4 dining rooms, did you only try one?  Just curious

Ah, that was exactly our thought.  Maybe it was just the first one we went to, Cosmopolitan, so we also tried the Tuscan.  Same, cold food, slow service.  And again, not a knock at all on the wait staff, they were trying as hard as they could, there just wasnt enough of them. 

An earlier post mentioned that its just our opinion which i 100% agree with, but what i wished i considered is that the ship was 100% full so there may be some service issues so i should have booked the speciality restaurants in advance because when we realized we had an issue with the MDR, the earliest we could make reservation at the speciality restaurants was after 9pm if at all.  We had pre booked the steakhouse and La Petit in advance because we knew we wanted to do those two restaurants.  We tried a walk on at Eden and it actually worked out with some waiting at the bar, very lucky. And our waiter at the steakhouse from our first night there saw us trying to get a reservation the last night and helped get us in. And i didnt think they were overpriced at all.  i think most were $60 or less per person so i should have just booked them all in advance.  Again, just my opinion.

thx

 

[mnocket]

21 hours ago, 20165 said:

Oh yes, signs with our names on them.  and it was uncomfortable.  Fortunately our waiter did the dirty work for us.  Must be pretty common because he seemed pretty good at it.

Wow how rude of them.  Worse.... they probably had towels "reserving" their pool lounges while they were squatting at your cabana 🙄

[Oxo]

30 minutes ago, Dar & Bob said:

@20165 you said that the MDR service and food wasn't good.  The Apex has 4 dining rooms, did you only try one?  Just curious

We tried all 4 during the 7 days. Buffet was very good, too.

[Oxo]

1 hour ago, 20165 said:

Ah, that was exactly our thought.  Maybe it was just the first one we went to, Cosmopolitan, so we also tried the Tuscan.  Same, cold food, slow service.  And again, not a knock at all on the wait staff, they were trying as hard as they could, there just wasnt enough of them. 

An earlier post mentioned that its just our opinion which i 100% agree with, but what i wished i considered is that the ship was 100% full so there may be some service issues so i should have booked the speciality restaurants in advance because when we realized we had an issue with the MDR, the earliest we could make reservation at the speciality restaurants was after 9pm if at all.  We had pre booked the steakhouse and La Petit in advance because we knew we wanted to do those two restaurants.  We tried a walk on at Eden and it actually worked out with some waiting at the bar, very lucky. And our waiter at the steakhouse from our first night there saw us trying to get a reservation the last night and helped get us in. And i didnt think they were overpriced at all.  i think most were $60 or less per person so i should have just booked them all in advance.  Again, just my opinion.

thx

 

Steak house was $65 plus 18% tip equals $76/person.

What time did you go into MDR? WE WENT AT 530PM.

[20165]

1 hour ago, Oxo said:

Steak house was $65 plus 18% tip equals $76/person.

What time did you go into MDR? WE WENT AT 530PM.

7 which i understand is primetime which i understand is primetime, but thats when we like to eat.  And all im trying to say is we didnt have a good experience in the MDR and i wish we would have booked all speciality prior to the cruise so we wouldnt have to scramble once on board to try to find one that was still taking reservations around the time we like to eat. I didnt say we had a horrible cruise, but just the opposite, we had a great time, but the MDR was just not to our liking.  Not a big deal. 

[Oxo]

4 minutes ago, 20165 said:

7 which i understand is primetime which i understand is primetime, but thats when we like to eat.  And all im trying to say is we didnt have a good experience in the MDR and i wish we would have booked all speciality prior to the cruise so we wouldnt have to scramble once on board to try to find one that was still taking reservations around the time we like to eat. I didnt say we had a horrible cruise, but just the opposite, we had a great time, but the MDR was just not to our liking.  Not a big deal. 

Understand what you said. My only point was that what we post is our experiences. You had a bad experience in the MDR and we had a great experience in the MDR. I never addressed your overall cruise experience. Just the MDR.