Jim_Iain Apex Key West, TansAtlantic and British Isle with a Week in Amsterdam

[iTownPrincess]

I waited to start reading this thread until I had an uninterrupted hour or so to catch up with the posts. Note to Self:There is no “catching up” on a Jim_Iain thread. When I started reading there were 15 pages of comments. Now there are 18 and counting. I better wrap this up or I’ll be reading for a long time …

[mac_tlc]

On 4/17/2023 at 6:29 PM, kwokpot said:

I think that's a happy and ideal compromise in having a Retreat Lounge with a real bar that you can sit at AND it having an up-to-date decor that's brighter and less like a stuffy Men's Club. 

I think the E-class with the wonderful floor to ceiling window views of the ocean is the winner for me and DW. And on Beyond, its on both sides of the Retreat Lounge. 

 

mac_tlc

[Jim_Iain]

April 18th. Belize

 

Arrived on time and ship was cleared quickly.  
 

We took an Air Boat tour today.   I’ll be honest and not recommend it.   I’ll explain more later. 
 

We had to meet in theater at 9:00 (ships time as we did not shift time zones).   We were called at 9:15 for a 20 minute tender to Belize City.    
 

First off was a bathroom break.   Ok. I just understand why 80% of our group need a rest stop after just 20 minutes. 
 

Hour later we finally board our bus for a 20 minute ride to the Airboat place.  False advertising as it was more like 40 minutes.  
 

Guess what?   Time for another toilet break. 
 

Next they had some drummers 🪘 perform for us with a dancer. 
 

 

 

 

Edited April 18, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

Finally our adventure began.  We loaded onto airboats and given noise protected muffs. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kwokpot]

3 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

I think the E-class with the wonderful floor to ceiling window views of the ocean is the winner for me and DW. And on Beyond, its on both sides of the Retreat Lounge. 

 

mac_tlc

I agree 100%, however lots of people don't seem to agree. I don't have an issue sitting on the banquette and having a server get me a drink and snacks. Even when we were on the Reflection with the old Michael's Club we never sat at the bar. 

[Jim_Iain]

The swamp is only about a mile long and the Airboat tour was only about 25 minutes long. 
 

We did see an Iguana and maybe 20 birds. 
 

 

 

 

 

The main emphasis was everyone raising hands and leaning into the turns.  That was interspersed with the guide faking us and doing the Macarena and YMCA.  
 

 

[Jim_Iain]

Back to the “Gift Shop” for Rum Tasting (sales pitch) and of course another toilet break.    Hour later we loaded on the bus and waited until the last were finished.   
 

 

 

Basically we spent 5 hours for a beautiful but rather boring “adventure”

Edited April 18, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

24 minutes ago, iTownPrincess said:

I waited to start reading this thread until I had an uninterrupted hour or so to catch up with the posts. Note to Self:There is no “catching up” on a Jim_Iain thread. When I started reading there were 15 pages of comments. Now there are 18 and counting. I better wrap this up or I’ll be reading for a long time …

 

I have to admit -  I should put a warning on the first page.   I have to admit I have to keep up with traffic.   So many nice people here.   I feel like they are family. 

 

Now my real sister says she just look at the pictures... and reads my posts or she says she wouldn't have time for the rest of her day.

[Jim_Iain]

18 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

I agree 100%, however lots of people don't seem to agree. I don't have an issue sitting on the banquette and having a server get me a drink and snacks. Even when we were on the Reflection with the old Michael's Club we never sat at the bar. 

 

Maybe it's just the time we go to the Retreat (about 7:30 PM) but the Bartender just isn't as attentive as other lounges whether Michael's Club or Retreat.    Patrick is a superstar and very responsive.   The bartender seems to spend more time stocking things than taking care of customers and most of the guest have to go up to the bar and pickup and order their own drinks.

 

Now superstar bartenders like Cranston on Reflection always has an eye on every glass in the room and you never even have to ask for a refill. 

 

So far I've also been underwhelmed with the Retreat Hosts -  Most hosts walk around and act like a host.    I think we have only spoken to them once and we are on day 3.   They have a tendency to all 3 standing around together at the podium.   Last night just as we arrived all 4 of them walked out at the same time at 7:30 and didn't come back until 8:00PM.    Really not complaining but just not the inviting feel we have had on other ships.   Maybe it's an E-Class thing.   Or maybe an Apex E-Class thing.

 

I will have to say I've never see so many guests using the Retreat and Retreat Sundeck. 

[TrueCruiseaholic]

Captain Nikolas is very personable. He genuinely cares about the crew (and the guests). From our experience, the crew on his ships are very happy to have him as their captain.

[mac_tlc]

27 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Maybe it's just the time we go to the Retreat (about 7:30 PM) but the Bartender just isn't as attentive as other lounges whether Michael's Club or Retreat.    Patrick is a superstar and very responsive.   The bartender seems to spend more time stocking things than taking care of customers and most of the guest have to go up to the bar and pickup and order their own drinks.

 

Now superstar bartenders like Cranston on Reflection always has an eye on every glass in the room and you never even have to ask for a refill. 

 

So far I've also been underwhelmed with the Retreat Hosts -  Most hosts walk around and act like a host.    I think we have only spoken to them once and we are on day 3.   They have a tendency to all 3 standing around together at the podium.   Last night just as we arrived all 4 of them walked out at the same time at 7:30 and didn't come back until 8:00PM.    Really not complaining but just not the inviting feel we have had on other ships.   Maybe it's an E-Class thing.   Or maybe an Apex E-Class thing.

 

I will have to say I've never see so many guests using the Retreat and Retreat Sundeck. 

I noticed that two of the hosts on Beyond last week rarely left the podium, and always seemed to be typing something. Other than them making an Eden reservation on Day 1, I don't believe we spoke to either of them. Hussein and Joao on Edge were all over the room and we talked to them almost every day.

 

There were two other servers that were very busy and I think when the lounge was very active they had trouble keeping up. 

 

We also noted several nights that the Lounge seemed much more crowded than on any of our other Retreat cruises. 

 

Our prime Retreat time was 5:15 - 6:15, give or take. 

 

 

mac_tlc

[Cruising Is Bliss]

12 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Please do one.   So many CC members including myself live reading them. 

 

I've been thinking about doing a live blog for my next cruise. For such a long cruise (94 days) I'll be keeping a personal travel diary anyway. Could you estimate about how much time it takes you each day?

[DaKahuna]

59 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Maybe it's just the time we go to the Retreat (about 7:30 PM) but the Bartender just isn't as attentive as other lounges whether Michael's Club or Retreat.    Patrick is a superstar and very responsive.   The bartender seems to spend more time stocking things than taking care of customers and most of the guest have to go up to the bar and pickup and order their own drinks.

 

Now superstar bartenders like Cranston on Reflection always has an eye on every glass in the room and you never even have to ask for a refill. 

 

So far I've also been underwhelmed with the Retreat Hosts -  Most hosts walk around and act like a host.    I think we have only spoken to them once and we are on day 3.   They have a tendency to all 3 standing around together at the podium.   Last night just as we arrived all 4 of them walked out at the same time at 7:30 and didn't come back until 8:00PM.    Really not complaining but just not the inviting feel we have had on other ships.   Maybe it's an E-Class thing.   Or maybe an Apex E-Class thing.

 

 

Jim,

 

Your comments on your Retreat Host reminds me of the ones we had on Edge in early 2020, right before the shut down.  We spent 7 days and both of them never left their podium.  If you wanted to talk to them you went to the podium.  The podium was tucked around the corner from the entrance so no friendly greeting upon arrival in the Lounge at all. 

 

Cranston is a hard act for any other bar tender to follow.  I had to stop him from making my drink when he saw my glass half empty in case I wanted a different second drink.  The second time, he started asking me if I wanted my 'usual' or would I like something else.  

 

 

[nps001]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Who’s Aboard.   Buried deep on TV

 

Christophe is a great HD!    If you run into him, please say hello from us.

[Cap_D]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Who’s Aboard.   Buried deep on TV

Jim, navigating that menu was impossible in our CS.  You were patient or lucky.  Some readers may know this already, but a lot of the senior officers have been on the other two E-Class ships, and we heard that some will be on a different one for their next contract.  So, there's some consistency (for better or worse) achieved as the officers rotate.  We've seen YouTube interviews on food and beverage when Martin was on Edge, Christophe has been on Beyond, Brittany was on Beyond and Edge, and so on.  

 

As for the Retreat Lounge experience, we also noticed some gaps in assistance or tendency to keep the food that was out to a minimum.  That creates waiting, rationing, and yet an inability to use self help.  So, that becomes awkward compared to similar lounges, but shouldn't be for a  $1b build or it sounds like other ships.  We also think they need a higher volume coffee machine, and ability to do blended ice coffee drinks in the lounge or sundeck.  

 

My view is the configuration doesn't help.  It's awkward for guests to find a cozy spot, and the bar and food areas make it hard for the staff to see the rest of the room.  The podium also doesn't help matters.  Plus all that creates a walkway effect that runs from port to starboard, and bottlenecks.  We also noticed some of the servers end up assisting in Luminae later in the evening, so maybe it's a staffing level issue. 

 

We noticed the hosts mingling more later in the week, and on a name basis with many by the end of the week.   The computer and podium seem to be thr anchor point, and, again, it seems like the configuration makes it hard for them to mingle.  

 

Ditto re Christophe.  Nice guy, and looking to help guests and his host team.  

 

We want to meet this Cranston fella!  I have seen many of you mention him in other threads.  

Edited April 19, 2023 by Cap_D

[MarKay525]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

<snip>

So far I've also been underwhelmed with the Retreat Hosts -  Most hosts walk around and act like a host.    I think we have only spoken to them once and we are on day 3.   They have a tendency to all 3 standing around together at the podium.   Last night just as we arrived all 4 of them walked out at the same time at 7:30 and didn't come back until 8:00PM.    Really not complaining but just not the inviting feel we have had on other ships.   Maybe it's an E-Class thing.   Or maybe an Apex E-Class thing. <snip>

We had a similar experience on the Apex last December. Three guests standing in front of the podium and the Retreat Host on duty did not even look up to acknowledge our existence. I realize she was busy with something, but to not even acknowledge us....

I finally gave up and left.

I mentioned it the next day to another of the Hosts who had been really helpful on our first day - just suggested she mention to her co-worker that an "I'll be with you in a moment" would be nice. I did receive a phone call from the non-attentive Host who apologized several times.

Edited April 19, 2023 by MarKay525

[Gracie115]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

 

Now superstar bartenders like Cranston on Reflection always has an eye on every glass in the room and you never even have to ask for a refill. 

 

 

 

We also were lucky enough to be on board with Cranston on the Reflection.... wonderful bartender!

 

I have a question that someone had on the TA roll call.  Have you had a chance to see if there are any music channels on the TV in your suite?  When we were on Apex for the TA last fall there were none at all which was disappointing, we are used to S Class which offers a few of them.  I'm hoping that has improved since our sailing last November.

[Purplsmurf]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Who’s Aboard.   Buried deep on TV

 

How often do you encounter the Captain when walking? He used to be on the Reflection and my husband walks a lot. He said that he passed a guy everyday. At the Senior officers get together he walked up to my husband and asked “ how many steps do you have today?”…..He had no idea it was the Captain. From there on out they knew each other every day! 😂

[jwlane]

@Jim_Iain, I hope you caught/catch Andrew's show!

[bunzini]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

nd of course another toilet break.

This is the number one reason why I really don't like shore excursions booked through the cruise lines.  I mean I get it, a bathroom break, but when you have to stop and wait for 50 people to use the restroom, it is so annoying!  So as much as I can, I book independent tours.  Sometimes you have to find a way to spend that shipboard credit though!

[CTSandy]

So late to this, but was cruising on Solstice.  I spent a couple of hours catching up on this review today.  I love your live reviews, Jim, thank you for taking the time to share your comments and wonderful pictures!

[Jim_Iain]

I have to retract what I said about the retreat hosts.  Tonight 100% attentive.   

[garyl62]

1 hour ago, Cruising Is Bliss said:

 

I've been thinking about doing a live blog for my next cruise. For such a long cruise (94 days) I'll be keeping a personal travel diary anyway. Could you estimate about how much time it takes you each day?

I'm sure Jim will give you some insight on his experience, but a month ago while on the Apex I wanted to do a live thread, but also not have it become anything laborious. I'd say I spent less than 10 or 15 minutes a day making one or two posts with a few photos.

Edited April 19, 2023 by garyl62

[LisaLeone]

2 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I have to retract what I said about the retreat hosts.  Tonight 100% attentive.   

Perhaps they are also reading your blog.

[garyl62]

2 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I have to retract what I said about the retreat hosts.  Tonight 100% attentive.   

Glad to hear that, when we sailed they were very engaging with us, maybe not always wandering around, but they did come and talk with us often enough that we felt they were paying attention to us and interested in how our cruise was going.