LIVE Apex Suite Review 2/25-3/4: Love in the Time of Relaxed Luxury

[asnaleah]

51 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Erin -  Post a link.   Really want to learn more about Azamara.   Looked and you haven't yet fired up your Live Post there. 

Will do tomorrow. We fly to Buenos Aires Tuesday, board Pursuit Saturday, 2/25. We liked the smaller Regent Voyager very much. Looking forward to Azamara again and glad we qualified for the loyalty status reciprocation.

[mchell810]

Yay 💃💃 !  Looking forward to your adventures.

[GenerationX]

3 hours ago, miched said:

What made you choose a Celebrity cruise in a SS instead of the Yacht Club in MSC?  
 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Thank you! I did look at MSC but this time Celebrity won the budget battle.  

We had somewhat specific departure and return dates to work with due to our work schedules and within our window, the only options on MSC were a 7 night on Seascape and a 4 night on Miraviglia.  

 

We really wanted to sail a full week, and Jeremy wasn’t crazy about sailing out of Orlando, so that dropped the 4 night out.

 

The 7 night on Seascape only had royal suites available and those were priced at over twice the price of the SS on Apex.

 

 

[GenerationX]

3 hours ago, Mimiya11 said:

Incredible.   We will be boarding the Apex on Saturday as well.  Not in a SS until the fall, but will keep a look out for the map dress. Cheers.    

 

 

 

Looking forward to sailing with you!  Hope to meet you guys onboard!

[GenerationX]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Charla

 

Welcome back.   I'm in need of a Jeremy and Charla adventure.

 

Our next cruise is on Apex, so will be following along and picking up all your pointers.   I hear that Nina, Hotel Director has come aboard.   She is FANTASTIC. 

 

 

Thank you Jim!  Is the Apex cruise part of the semi-side by sides that you have coming up?

If I remember correctly you have a few cruises coming up on Celebrity and I think Ponant that are not too far apart?

[Mrs_Tiki]

So excited for another live with GenX review! It will help pass the time until we can be live with Charla for real on the Beyond!

[GenerationX]

A quick caution/suggestion for anyone else who booked or made any updates to a Retreat, AQ class or Al package cruise in the last week or so:

 

Check your guest invoice and cruise planner order history carefully and make sure that it reflects all of your included perks. 

 

Just after Valentine’s Day, I booked 2 sky suite cruises (this one and one in April) online directly through the Celebrity website.   On the last screen before the final click before fully booking, for both cruises the screen showed that the cruises include the standard Retreat perks of premium wifi, premium beverage package and prepaid gratuities, plus OBC.

 

However, for both cruises, when I received my booking confirmation guest invoice from Celebrity, the premium wifi, premium beverage package and prepaid gratuities didn’t show up on the invoice as they have in the past.

 

Since I booked this cruise so close to sail date, I was able to immediately check Jeremy and I in on the app and view our express passes, and noticed that they also did not have the PALL on them for the premium beverage package inclusion.

 

Doing some online searches revealed a few recent posts on other forums about Celebrity cruisers having issues with inclusions disappearing from their bookings and being told by shoreside that there was a “glitch” in the system last week.

 

I emailed Celebrity customer service attaching my invoice and explaining my concern and asking for confirmation that all of the perks were included with my booking and, if so, requesting an updated invoice confirming it (in case I have to do battle with guest services on the ship).

 

In less than 24 hours (yay!) I received what seems like a somewhat copy paste response (boo) from customer service stating that premium wifi, premium beverage package and prepaid gratuities are included in all Retreat bookings and that a corrected invoice was sent under separate cover.

 

The good news is the auto-sent updated invoice for this cruise that I received shortly thereafter does reflect included wifi and beverage package.  The bad news is: 1) the promo code for the wifi looks like it is the standard wifi, not premium; and 2) the prepaid gratuities are still not reflected as included.

 

Additionally none of the perks show up in my order history in the cruise planner as they usually do, and our express passes still don’t reflect a beverage package.

 

On my ever growing list of things to do today and tomorrow is to find time to put in a call to Celebrity and wait on hold (ugh) and see if everything can get straightened out before we sail.  

 

Worst case, I’ll be bringing a print out of the email stating that all perks should be included onboard with us and hopefully it can all be resolved with a meeting with the Retreat concierge as soon as we board (and hopefully a quick one so that we can get right to the more important and fun job of showing Jeremy around his first E class ship)!

[asnaleah]

Here’s the link to my “Live from” on Azamara Pursuit. There aren’t very many live froms on the Azamara board, so I hope I’m not breaking protocol. I always learn so much from my fellow cruisers and I like to give back, so unless I get shut down, I will post often once we board.

 

Okay, so I couldn’t find the link I copied - need Jim’s excellent tech help again 🤣. Here’s the post. 
 

“My first Azamara “live from”, so excited to board Saturday!! DH and I fly tomorrow from Chicago to Buenos Aires to begin our adventure. Staying at the Alvear Palace hotel, tours booked, all packed - CARRY ON only, woo hoo! So happy to have self-laundry on board. 

 

   We are planning to bring some Argentinian wines on board, but I hear the wine selection has improved on Pursuit. We will decide if the ultimate package is worthwhile once we get a look at the ever elusive wine list. I will keep you posted.  
   
    So happy and grateful to be able to take this cruise! More later…

    Erin”
 
 

[Silkroad]

15 minutes ago, asnaleah said:

Here’s the link to my “Live from” on Azamara Pursuit. There aren’t very many live froms on the Azamara board, so I hope I’m not breaking protocol. I always learn so much from my fellow cruisers and I like to give back, so unless I get shut down, I will post often once we board.

 

Okay, so I couldn’t find the link I copied - need Jim’s excellent tech help again 🤣. Here’s the post. 
 

“My first Azamara “live from”, so excited to board Saturday!! DH and I fly tomorrow from Chicago to Buenos Aires to begin our adventure. Staying at the Alvear Palace hotel, tours booked, all packed - CARRY ON only, woo hoo! So happy to have self-laundry on board. 

 

   We are planning to bring some Argentinian wines on board, but I hear the wine selection has improved on Pursuit. We will decide if the ultimate package is worthwhile once we get a look at the ever elusive wine list. I will keep you posted.  
   
    So happy and grateful to be able to take this cruise! More later…

    Erin”
 
 

Here you go. Can't wait to follow along!

[asnaleah]

Thanks @Silkroad!! Now I can stop hijacking Charla’s thread!

[Reel Love]

2 hours ago, GenerationX said:

A quick caution/suggestion for anyone else who booked or made any updates to a Retreat, AQ class or Al package cruise in the last week or so:

 

Check your guest invoice and cruise planner order history carefully and make sure that it reflects all of your included perks. 

 

Worst case, I’ll be bringing a print out of the email stating that all perks should be included onboard with us and hopefully it can all be resolved with a meeting with the Retreat concierge as soon as we board (and hopefully a quick one so that we can get right to the more important and fun job of showing Jeremy around his first E class ship)!

Ugh....hope you get this sorted out quickly and great reminder to take aboard printed confirmation (although I know many people do not like to print everything).  Showing printed proof of purchase at GR helped resolve the issue VERY quickly when I had upgraded to premium package before sailing.  Everything showed properly on-line before leaving home, but when we boarded my stateroom card indicated Classic so simply showed the paperwork at GR and he instantly printed me another card reflecting the upgrade.

Have another fabulous sailing Charla, and as always looking forward to following along 😊

[Mimiya11]

The IT system is crazy.   Even when we booked in December and paid in full because of how close we were to sailing, we got a paid in full booking confirmation with invoice right away.  Then a day or two later, got an email with a $400 balance owing!   Umm no

After calling Customer Service (the first time), the representative said all was good, then I got a new invoice sent to me that did not include all the perks!   Each time I called Customer Service they sent me another copy of my booking.  I kept the one that was correct, printed it out, just in case we board and something happens.

 

But as far as you being in the Retreat, you get all the premium perks but I see why you want it shown on your invoice and boarding pass.     

[Jim_Iain]

Found the link below.   Thanks Charla for letting us hijack a little of your blog.  Look forward to some good reading over the next couple weeks.

 

 

Edited February 20, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[Azulann]

So happy to  see a new live report from you  My new cruise is not till  June on Viking Ocean , so I enjoy reading live reports , and you are a star  in my book with your wonderful reports.

Look forward to Jeremy's  reaction to the cruise. 

[hcat]

On 2/19/2023 at 1:32 PM, GenerationX said:

 

Well hello fellow cruisers!

 

I didn’t expect to be back on a ship so soon after my Silhouette/Divina side by side last month.  However, I was completely at a loss for what to give my better half for a Valentine’s Day gift this year (and to celebrate him FINALLY following doctor’s orders and doing away with his asthma-aggravating cigarette smoking 20-year habit 🙌🏾) and the pricing and work schedule stars aligned, so in 4 days the hubs and I will be flying to Florida for a last minute booking 7 night Caribbean cruise on Apex!

 

Who’s up for another live review?

 

A quick about us:

 

I’m Charla and the man currently sitting on the couch going through the Celebrity app making a checklist of all the cocktails he plans to try onboard is Jeremy. 

 

We live about an hour south of St. Louis, MO on our small 12 acre hobby farm and enjoy hiking, kayaking, fishing and camping.
 

We cruise for the warm weather, good food I don’t have to cook, and as evidenced above, drinks and fun.

 

We’re both seasoned Celebrity cruisers and if my math is correct this cruise will bump us up into Elite Plus.  I’ve lost track of how many cruises post-shutdown this will be for me, but this will only be Jeremy’s second, after our Bermuda cruise last July on Summit.

 

This cruise will also be Jeremy’s first time sailing E-class and I’m anxious to see if he likes it as much as I do. 

 

For me, I’ve sailed on Edge and Beyond, but this will be my first time on Apex.  Actually, after this cruise, I will have officially sailed on every non-Galapagos ship in the current Celebrity fleet!

 

This cruise we’ll be sailing in a sky suite that I booked as a suite guarantee and received our cabin assignment for within 24 hours.

 

As mentioned above, my last cruise just last month was a (fantastic) solo yacht club sailing on MSC Divina (immediately after stepping off the Silhouette), so it will be interesting coming back to Celebrity and to the Retreat experience on a newer ship.

 

In the coming days I’ll do a a couple of posts with details on booking and our plans on shore and onboard.

 

As always if there’s anything in particular inquiring minds would like to know about, please don’t hesitate to ask.

 

Looking forward to taking everyone along on another cruising adventure!

 

 

 

Stunning  Couple!

 

Will be following along..X is a great  (almost ) smoke free choice.  ENJOY!

[GenerationX]

23 hours ago, miched said:

Congratulations on him kicking the habit.   Years ago the joke was they listed the smokers who quit the habit every day in the newspaper in alphabetical order.   It was the obituaries 

 

We bought our house in 1969.  Our neighbors were chain smokers. We didn’t have AC and not too many had it.  We would have our windows open in the summer and  their smoke would pour out of their windows into our house.   It looked like their house was on fire.   They eventually ended up with oxygen tanks but still smoked and coughed.   Both died before being 65.  
 

Today I can always tell a smoker when driving.  They have their window cracked open.   If they like the smoke that much why do they want it to escape?  

 

It isn’t an easy habit to quit.  Everyone has a vice, caffeine , sugar, alcohol and etc.    

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Thank you! I kind of took a live and let live position on his habit for a long time because he’s a grown man after all and as you said we all have our vices.  
 

It really started to worry me though when I could tell his asthma was getting worse.  
 

We both got the flu this winter and Jeremy got much sicker than me and barely got out of bed for over a week. The doctors said the smoking was probably a factor in why he got so sick.  I think it was the wake up call that he needed.

[GenerationX]

I realized after booking this cruise that we would be getting home just a little over 2 weeks before Gen Z and I turn around and leave for our mother-daughter spring break cruise on Solstice.  Which means I have to do some planning for BOTH cruises this week before we fly to Miami. (I know, you all have so much sympathy for my strife.)

 

Today Gen Z had the day off school so we did a little cruise wardrobe shopping then went for lunch.  With all the recent trepidation about the lobster available at sea, I decided to stop by Red Lobster and get my fix in advance for the low, low “cruise fare” of $55 including premium beverage and gratuity. Problem solved. 😂

 

Speaking of eating, allow me to share a little about Jeremy and I’s food and fun plans on Apex.  This booking came with a generous $800 in OBC so we decided to indulge in some excursions and specialty dining.

 

Our ports on this cruise are San Juan, St. Thomas and Tortola.  

 

Jeremy and I have done San Juan many times, so we plan to stay onboard for that port and enjoy a quieter ship.  

 

For St. Thomas, after I came home from a solo cruise excursion there with tales of swimming with a wild sea turtle, Jeremy was very confident that he wanted to snorkel.  So we’ve booked the Turbo Catamaran Snorkel and Beach escape.

 

In Tortola, since Jeremy got to pick the St. Thomas excursion, I decided we’d do a trip I wanted to do on my last port stop and booked the last two spots on an excursion to the Virgin Gorda Baths.

 

For onboard dining, we have specialty dinner reservations at Fine Cut and Raw on 5 and will be continuing my E Class first night dinner tradition of dining at my favorite: Eden.

 

We also plan to try and book a lunch at Le Grand Bistro and one at Rooftop Grill.

 

I also booked us a poolside cabana for the last sea day.

 

Beyond that, I imagine our schedule will include significant amounts of poolside reading, gambling (primarily Jeremy) and wine events (primarily me).  
 

I’ve also noticed a few cooking demos in the schedule that I’m chomping at the bit to attend and I plan to drag Jeremy to at least a couple of the production shows so that he can experience the E class theatre.

 

We’ll be flying into Miami on a redeye the day before the cruise and will be staying at a hotel in FLL in the Las Olas neighborhood.

 

Only 2 more days at the office left then there’s just a spa trip and packing left between us and vacation! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dave Judy]

We were just on the Apex in Tortola and did the afternoon trip to The Baths.  It was an amazing excursion. 

[parrothead33]

Wow, GenZ is growing up!  What a smile.

[peanut head]

Thank you so very much for taking us along!  I’m sure that you and Jeremy will have a wonderful time. Currently, we are on the Silhouette and have done so much b/c of the great tips you had shared. Happy sailing. 

[dbmmusic]

Hi there,  new here on cruise critic. Seasoned cruiser and also on Celebrity.  First time on Apex though, boarding March 11th for daughters 21st birthday celebration cruise.  Congrats to your hubby! So how do I find the drink menu in advance to show my daughter? Will be following your live, excited to be back to cruising post pandemic. 

[jzad]

I'm thrilled to see you are off again!  Following along.  Congrats on Jeremy kicking the habit!  That's a big celebration.  

[clochette]

So happy to follow along again, love your reports and looking forward to also reading the mother/daughter trip those are so fun.

[cinderellen]

Wow, Gen Z looks so grown up! Enjoy your cruise. We loved the APEX. 

 

[Kteacher]

I know you mentioned staying on the ship in San Juan, but if you can get a reservation at Marmalade on Calle Forteleza you will not regret it:

https://www.marmaladepr.com/   We may have booked a cruise once because we were able to dine there 😉.