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

[Lena11033]

5 minutes ago, TPCRUISER2 said:

Want to be like you when I grow up! Enjoy your cruise.

 

 

Same here lol

[lola2013]

Looking forward to your Apex review.  I've done two cruises on Edge, but will sail Apex for the first time in December (no suite for me, but always look forward to my SV).  It will be my first solo cruise in a long time.  I sailed on Equinox with a group last week...they found it humorous that I was able to start up a conversation with anyone...fellow passengers, crew, random statues (I do love Mr. Potato Head outside the shops).   I figure if I want to make friends, that's the way to go!

Bon Voyage

Susan

[GenerationX]

3 hours ago, Redking said:

Hi Charla, really good to know that you've received this level of contact from shoreside. We had really poor service for our last cruise in  Royal Suite which I have provided feedback on to the CEO's office.  Hopefully they are onto it and are lifting their game. 🤞 the connection is good between shoerside and the ship. Wishing you both a wonderful cruise and looking forward to following along.

I am so sorry to hear this. With what celebrity charges for royal suites these days I would be furious at receiving anything less than excellent service.

 

If you feel comfortable sharing may I ask which ship you were on?

 

Please also keep us posted on what you get as far as response from corporate about your treatment.

[wendyam76]

Can’t wait to follow along - thank you! With regards that email I had it for both my Summer 2021 Apex cruise and Summer 2022 Beyond cruises - both in Magic Carpet suites which we loved.

Wendy 

[GenerationX]

7 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

OK - Charla time to sail with you and Jeremy -   We can all jump on Iain who still smokes.   I'm an Ex smoker of 40 years and know how hard but how easy it is to stop.   

 

I quite while teaching a College course on Understanding Addictive Behavior.   One day I had a revelation.   hmmmm..   Why don't I try what I teach.   Very easy first step -    Don't have the First XXX whatever the addiction.  Meaning to never have the first regardless of how long off the substance or activity the first sets off a chain reaction.

We would love to sail with you and Iain!
 

We can totally surprise him with our plan.

 

You guys could just walk into the retreat lounge on embarkation day and Jeremy and I will be sitting there and I will raise my bourbon and peaches and say “cheers Iain! Welcome aboard Intervention of the Seas! Please sit and let’s have a chat.”

[Sharkette76]

We got the same questionnaire for our cruise 2/24 (!) in a Sky Suite on the Edge. Never seen this before, but it makes a lot of sense to find out our preferences ahead of boarding. Love your live reviews!

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

5 hours ago, GenerationX said:

We would love to sail with you and Iain!
 

We can totally surprise him with our plan.

 

You guys could just walk into the retreat lounge on embarkation day and Jeremy and I will be sitting there and I will raise my bourbon and peaches and say “cheers Iain! Welcome aboard Intervention of the Seas! Please sit and let’s have a chat.”

 

I know y'all mean well, but please don't do this.  Iain needs to want to quit for this to work for him.  I speak as a person who battled this addiction for a long time.  I can't count the number of times I quit only to start up again.  Finally the switch flipped for me and I've now been a nonsmoker for twenty years.  But I do not attempt to get others to quit, although I know very few people who smoke.

[LouChamp]

19 hours ago, GenerationX said:

Aloha! Great to have you along again!  
 

We have ventured into Alaska cruising and Bermuda, but venturing much further than that has been a bit of a challenge due to Jeremy’s vacation time allowance. Up until this year he only got 2 weeks of paid vacation for the entire year, so with other family travel commitments around the holidays, etc. it was difficult for us to make a longer cruise or a 7 day that required a few days of travel time added on happen.

 

As of 2023 though, he’s been bumped up to 3 weeks paid so we are looking at doing a more adventurous trip this November/December to celebrate Jeremy’s 40th birthday.  We’re considering Hawaii or South America with maybe a Panama Canal crossing.  I’m also trying to lobby him to spend a bit bigger and do Galapagos on Flora, but he insists on adulting and going on about the need for funds for appliance upgrades at our house.  🙄  

 

I on the other hand would cheerfully spend a year scrubbing our laundry using a metal tub and a washboard like a medieval peasant if it means I get to go to Galapagos! 

Well understood. I was in private practice after working at a firm for a few years then started flipping homes so that gave us some more free time. After our daughter was about five we started Disney, weekend Caribbean and then cruising with her although Ive been cruising since I was a child. Then we started more adventures. President week Caribbean cruising and summer cruising to Europe. Holiday cruising South America and at times Hawaii and South Pacific. She is in her thirties now having seen the world and we are bl

[LouChamp]

Aloha…sorry hit the post button lol. We now divide our time between NY and Hawaii. Point of story is treasure her youth but also know that cruising is a great way to see the world and then as you and hubby and daughter get older, you can concentrate on parts of the world for more intense travel. Just my thoughts so enjoy and keep posting food pictures lol!

[terrydtx]

Following along with your live thread. We are on the Apex in September from Amsterdam and in a Sky Suit. 

[tcmagnum]

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

 

7 night Caribbean cruise on Apex!

 

Love that there is another Charla blog!!

I thoroughly enjoyed your last blog comparing Celebrity/MSC.

 

I am especially interested in this blog as my sister and I are booking a Sky Suite on Apex for next March!!  It will be our first time in Retreat.  And we are so excited.  I might have a few questions for you.

 

Have a great cruise!!!

[scrapcreator]

Congratulations to Jeremy! It’s a tough addiction to break.

 

Looking forward to your Apex live blog.

[GenerationX]

My yoga instructor is always telling me that I should be striving for “balance” in all things in my life.

 

So, for my post-last half day at work, pre-vacation spa treatments lunch, I’m having a fresh, nutritious grilled shrimp and avacado salad…with a side of duck fat fries with garlic chipotle aioli and 2 glasses of Pinot noir.  Balance achieved, right?

 

When I checked in for our red eye flight tomorrow morning, my AA app went a little nuts, froze and crashed (NEVER a good sign).  When I rebooted, we were all checked in (phew) but I saw that our 3:30 flight home out of Miami at the end of the cruise had been changed to a flight that doesn’t take off till 9pm!!!!

 

Not one to allow such things to even break the top 5 on my list of things to stress about pre-vacay, I decided to do something I’ve seen recommended on cruise forums many times over the years and while I’m eating lunch I booked us a day room at a hotel in Miami for disembark day. 

 

I made my booking through Hotels by Day, which a girlfriend recommended over others because they allow you to pay in full in advance (refundable up to 48 hours before check in) for a guaranteed room booking. Apparently many other third party sites let you “reserve” a day room but since they don’t take a deposit or card guarantee, you aren’t actually guaranteed to get a room and it’s essentially no different than just randomly showing up at the hotel the day of and asking if they’ll give you a day room.  If the hotel gets slammed with true overnight reservations for that day, apparently you may still be out of luck.

 

I booked our room at the Good Time Hotel on South Beach (co-owned by no other than Pharrell!).  I’ve never stayed at this hotel but it passed my “3 check rule”.  When researching new hotels/resorts: 1) I won’t even bother with anything that doesn’t have at least a four point/stars/dots total average score; 2) I read over all the reviews written in the past months; and 3) I read the reviews on at least 3 different review platforms.

 

I find it super helpful not only in sniffing out fake or biased reviews, but also I’m getting a sense of the common themes of pros and cons related to a property.

 

I paid a little under $160 to have a room from 10am till 6pm.   

 

This way after the cruise we can check in and have a little nap then spend our day by the pool and maybe have an early dinner in South Beach before heading to the airport.

 

I’ll be sure to report on how the experience goes.

 

After lunch I’ll head down to the spa for my pre-cruise massage, facial and pedicure. 

 

Then I’m meeting my dad for a quick goodbye dinner and then it’s home to finish packing and get to bed early for a 2am trip to the airport!

 

[GenerationX]

REAL CONVERSATIONS FROM MY MARRIAGE TONIGHT…

 

Me: All I’m asking is if there’s 3 or 4 things you could conceivably leave behind so that I can use like ONE LITTLE POUND of your checked bag weight allowance.

 

Jeremy (puts on Billy Zane British accent): You can be blasé about some things, Charla, but NOT about you overpacking for Apex!

 

2 hour later…

 

Me: I just realized that there is NO first class meal service on this late flight back to STL at the end of the cruise. I mean not that I was planning to eat that late, but  it’s the principle!

 

Jeremy (again puts on Billy Zane British accent):  Charla is displeased…what to do…🤔

 

[GenerationX]

It’s 4:30am in STL and we’re boarded and ready to go.  Next stop Miami!

 

[LouChamp]

Aloha. Have a super fabulous time.

[terrydtx]

Have a good flight and even better cruise.

[weacat]

So excited to read another one of your live blogs!  

 

Question for you - do you find that you have enough bandwidth to work on the cruise?  I am considering a "working" cruise but I will need to attend webex meetings and do some actual work here and there.  I am nervous that I wouldn't have enough service to actually work.

[mac_tlc]

Safe travels. Looking forward to Seeing an almond croissant! 

 

mac_lc

[mac_tlc]

2 hours ago, GenerationX said:

It’s 4:30am in STL and we’re boarded and ready to go.  Next stop Miami!

 

Those two people look way too awake for 4:30am! 

Edited February 24, 2023 by mac_tlc

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

1 minute ago, mac_tlc said:

Those two people look way too awake for 4:30am! 

And too happy!  🤪

[Silkroad]

Wishing you two a wonderful cruise! 

[TeeRick]

On 2/22/2023 at 11:23 AM, GenerationX said:

Yesterday I received two emails from the shoreside Retreat Concierge team.

 

The first was regarding my (spoiler alert) recently booked bargain April solo sky suite cruise on Beyond, for which I’ve been emailing back and forth with the general customer service email address about similar booking issues (missing perks, random balance due email when the cruise was paid in full at booking, etc.).   

 

The email yesterday from the concierge apologized for all of the errors and had attached an updated, correct invoice showing no balance due and all perks included.

 

The second email was regarding this Apex cruise and the concierge included a link to a form that she requested I fill out regarding preferences for our sky suite on our (very soon!) upcoming cruise, including options for the type of wine we’d like in our suite for embarkation. 

 

She also invited me to call or email her if there was anything else that we need last-minute assistance with before we sail.

 

I thought about emailing her regarding my ongoing quest and to get perks resolved and properly documented for this cruise. But just out of curiosity, I checked and our beverage packages are now showing on our express passes and our paid gratuities and premium Internet seem to be reflected in the cruise planner!

 

I’ve had outreach and assistance from the Retreat shoreside concierge when sailing in a Celebrity Suite or higher, but never before in a sky suite.

 

Does anyone know if this is now officially a standard thing for sky suites?

 

If so, having dedicated shoreside assistance, even at the lowest suite level, to step in and get issues like this resolved when they pop up is a nice additional perk.

 

Sharing pics of the preference form below. 

 

I’ve seen that there’s sometimes a disconnect between the shoreside and onboard teams, so it will be very interesting to see if our preferences/requests actually come through.

 

 

 

 

 

We have sailed suites on Celebrity quite a lot.  We have never been contacted pre-cruise for a Sky Suite.  Maybe this is new.  Enjoy your cruise!

[GenerationX]

 

We made it to Miami!  For the first time in forever our flight left right on time.  It was a nice smooth flight with two very friendly flight attendants servicing first class.  I have no idea how those ladies manage to be so energetic and pleasant that early in the morning.

 

Jeremy had the always a solid choice smoked salmon bagel for in flight breakfast.  I decided to give the mushroom and asparagus frittata a try.  Definitely not the best breakfast I’ll have this week (at least I really hope not), but it was better than the omelette on my flight last month.

 

A $50 Uber ride delivered us to downtown Fort Lauderdale to our hotel, the Hyatt Centric Las Olas.

 

After a much needed nap, we decided to get the circulation in our legs going and took a 20 minute walk down Las Olas Boulevard to have lunch at Casa Sensei.

 

The Las Olas area has tons of great restaurant options all in easy walking distance.  I’ve passed this Asian-Latin Fusion restaurant on my morning runs a few times and always wanted to try eating on its nice looking riverfront patio.

 

Btw for anyone following who uses the Riverside Hotel for their pre cruise hotel, right now it looks like there is major, loud jackhammering, street construction going on right outside.  Not sure how long it’s expected to last.

 

We’ve just about to get down on some beautiful cocktails and ceviche and it’s really starting to feel like vacation!
 

 

 

 

 

[Stem to Stern]

17 minutes ago, GenerationX said:

Casa Sensei

That place looks incredible.  I believe a portion of your route back to the hotel could be made along the riverfront.