CaptFantastic

She’s 3 but will be 4 in a few weeks. Her first cruise was back in January and we did some stuff in the club together. This time we tried her by herself. We’ll try again the next cruise and see how it goes. I ran back to the cabin one night and grabbed the iPad because she was being such a PITA, but in hindsight that should have been a cafeteria night….haha. The donkey sanctuary is all right, but if you love donkeys it’s definitely worth a stop. You can drive yourself through a loop of the premises and they’ll give you a bucket of food if you want it. There are a couple of places you can stop and there’s a lookout tower where you to see the whole property. There’s a pen and some educational stuff at the end, but we didn’t stop as DD was getting tired, and rain was on the way.

Could you wait until you are on board? Sometimes the on board staff know some details that the call centre may not. However, I would think that since the excursion has to accommodate as many people as possible, so people will book it, the drop off time will probably be quite early.

Hi wildcats40, I didn't think to ask anyone how full the ship was. Although it seemed busy, I never noticed anything full and any line moved quickly. There were chairs/loungers to be found close to the pool, seating at Oceanview, and space in the theatre. I think Celebrity does a good job of sizing the venues and seating to the capacity of the ship to avoid that busy or crowded feeling. The exception may have been the area around the grand foyer (deck 3) and the open area above it on 4 and 5. I thought I remembered more seating around the railing so you could see down on whatever was going on, but perhaps I'm mixing up the various ship classes in my head. Of course, around dinner time the venues fill up near the MDR, but that's to be expected.

Thanks RedneckBob. I wondered if things would get worse at the terminal later in the morning. We thought it was better to sit at the gate at the airport rather than get tied up leaving the ship.

Hi all, Just returned from the 8 night ABC cruise on the Reflection. This isn’t a full day by day review but I wanted to share a few points. The condition of the ship is very good. I’m sure if you were looking for things to complain about you would find something, but I didn’t see anything obviously out of place or in disrepair. A very small exception might be the carpet outside the Oceanview Cafe that had spots that looked wet, but wasn’t. I’m not sure if that’s normal for the carpet there, but it was the only place I saw it. I didn’t spend too much time memorizing the carpet though. Cabin was in the aft port section on deck 10 ( Concierge) and was also in very good shape. A little bit of paint peeling on the balcony overhang, but not a big deal. The cabin design seems a bit dated when compared to our last cruise on the Apex, but it’s still functional. Pillows are a little soft and the 8 pounds of blankets on the bed a bit heavy and hot sometimes, but this is manageable. Staff was very friendly and helpful. No issues here, as is our experience with Celebrity. Other passengers were friendly as well, especially trying to engage our daughter in conversation, who played shy most of the trip. Our cruise experience has changed drastically post pandemic now that our daughter is with us, so I didn’t get out to most of the venues, or have much nightlife. She tried the Camp at Sea the first morning and despite saying she had fun, didn’t want to go back. There were a few kids her age on the ship, so she would have enjoyed it, but I didn’t force her to go back. We spent an inordinate amount of time in the pool instead. The shallow one was nice as she could touch the bottom and mostly figured out how to swim a few float on her own. I didn’t see a lot of the shows in the theatre. The production shows sounded familiar and are pretty much the same anyway. I saw both of the comedian’s shows. Jeff Stevenson had some good lines, and don’t show up late and sit within eyesight and expect him to not notice. There was a comedian/magician who did a couple of shows, a singer I think and a pianist, none of which I saw. I meant to see the Capt Kirk rock show but wasn’t feeling well that night and forgot all about it. Apparently is quite good and isn’t to be missed. We had dinner at the Lawn Club Grill one night, no charge for her. We’ve done it before on another ship so knew what to expect, and it was very good. Other than that, dinners were in the MDR, or Oceanview. I thought the MDR was also very good, although portion sizes may have been a bit on the small side. I’m a big eater, but I didn’t leave hungry. Service was reasonably quick, with the exception being the Evening Chic nights, especially the 2nd one, where the experience was painfully slow….bordering on the ridiculous. Oceanview was good as well. Lots of selection and all stations open. I found lunch was better for options that appealed to me but again, was never left hungry. It also appears, at least from my memory, the burgers at the Mast Grill have returned to normal. If not normal, then leaps and bounds better than the hockey pucks they were serving on the Apex back in January. Ports. It’s been a number of years since we’ve been to the ABC’s and they didn’t disappoint. Taxi to Eagle Beach in Aruba. $15 each way, but the $50 for chairs and an umbrella seemed steep. Just walked around Willemstad a bit and did Bonaire Cruiser golf carts in Bonaire. The small bridge crossing the inlet was closed on the South route, and a local driver said it was supposed to re-open the next day, but it might be prudent to ask when you pick up your vehicle if you plan to be there in the next few days. We had to backtrack most of the route, but swung by the donkey sanctuary which our daughter really enjoyed. I also found Bonaire was grown significantly since our last visit and was much busier. I think one of those donkeys breathed on me or something because I got sick the evening, so spent the last 2 sea days just getting fresh air and just getting through the day. One other note is this is the 2nd cruise in a row where I’ve felt the motion has bothered me, especially inside the ship. My other cruises were pre pandemic and I was never bothered. It wasn’t full blown motion sickness but a feeling that something isn’t right. Finally, a special shout out to FLL and Terminal 2. They’ve finally put some money into it and did some renovations over this year. It’s gone from a rinky dink gong show on cruise days, to an actual normal, functional space. However, being there early ish on a Sunday may have helped. I’m sure the only reason why Fort Lauderdale exists is to get people to/from the airport/cruise port as efficiently as possible. We got off the ship just before 8 and sat down at our gate at 8:53, so it could not have been easier. Thanks for reading, I can attempt to answer any questions if you have them.

The hubby can still upgrade on board

Could you drive to YUL? That way you'd have a direct flight to NYC, plus you wouldn't have to worry about flights or connections to get home - just get to the car and drive home.

Now that Porter has some new planes and expanded routes, it’s nice to have a 3rd viable option…..although I suspect regular prices will be even with AC and WJ.

The sailing on Jan 14 they showed Top Gun Maverick in the theatre, the latest Pirates of the Caribbean outside, and maybe something else I can’t remember. There’s also a selection of movies on the TV.

I was on the Apex last week and they had pizza until late (midnight or maybe 1am) I wouldn't expect Beyond to do anything different. There were calzones too but not sure if those are served until late as well.

The Apex showed a couple last week in the Rooftop Garden area, 15 aft

Last week on the Apex we didn't even have to watch the video, just checked in at our station. I thought they would ask for some kind of proof that we watched it, but nope.

jalves , I may have still been getting my sea legs back, but my wife said our daughter almost rolled out of bed. I was up on the top deck by the hot tub taking some pics of the fort and water was sloshing around in it and the pool deck was all wet when I went back down…..and a pool butler with a “now what am I going to do with this mess” look on his face…haha. I fully agree with kwokpot too, I tried closing the dividers, which are a little stiff, to see how it works. I kept tripping over the chairs so quickly decided that wasn’t going to work, and just left them open all week. I did appreciate that you could stop the blind wherever you wanted in order to allow amount of light into the room.

Hi all, Just returned from the Apex Jan 14-21. I can answer questions if you have any, but I have a couple of my own: - The ship was rolling pretty dramatically entering San Juan - water spilling from the pool, etc. Did anyone hear anything? - Does anyone know how full the ship was? My stateroom attendant said he thought there was about 1900 booked, but not sure if they all made it onboard. This was our first cruise in almost 4 years thanks to our daughter being born and that pesky Covid thing, and first with our now toddler (definitely a different cruise experience). I don't think I noticed as many cutbacks (other than the lack of stations open in the Oceanview at dinner) that have been discussed on here, but perhaps I simply can't remember the way it used to be. I will say that it still feels like a Celebrity cruise and despite the new ship, still feels familiar. I don't know how I feel about the IV. I think it makes the most sense in cooler or more temperate climate cruises. For example, it was a little cool leaving Fort Lauderdale and quite pleasant the next day so I had it open for an extended period those days. As the temps climbed, I would only open it for a few minutes at a time. I also think it's too small with the divider closed and that groove for the blind if you're trying to use it as a traditional balcony. However, I did like how it becomes and extension of the room. Other than that, nothing much to report. I thought the food was good, some misses in Oceanview but ate in Tuscan a few times and thought it was quite good, staff was friendly and quite a few friendly passengers as well.

Date of Cruise: Jan 14, 2023 Ship: Apex Cabin #: 11137 Deck #: 11 Cabin Category: Concierge Cabin Location: Midship Bed Position: By the bath Balcony Type: IV Balcony/Window Size: Standard Balcony/Window View/Obstruction: None Balcony Overhang?: Yes Magic Carpet Issues?: No Noise Issues?: Some creaking while ship was moving, some chair noise from above No Wind Issues?: Connecting Cabin? Where Does it Connect?: No Suite Details: Advantages/Problems/Comments: Close to forward elevators/stairs Would You Book It Again?: Probably