Folsomdoc

We sailed Apex March 23rd. Fort Lauderdale was full of spring breakers. The ship was not. They’d be bored on board I’m sure. While Celebrity is trying to reach a younger demographic nothing they are doing makes me believe they want the spring break crowd with all it’s craziness.

Same experience on Apex recently.

Correct.

We used Luggage Valet last month disembarking at FLL on Apex. We were in an Aqua Sky Suite. We flew first class on AA, had one checked bag. It cost $29-that is the fee for Luggage Valet and is not waived for first class. We recieved our boarding passes and a luggage tag about noon the day before, delivered by our butler. The tag had only our connection destination not our final destination. I checked with the retreat concierge who told me not to worry, it was all embedded in the bar code. When we arrived in California the bag was among the first 20 on the belt with priority tags attached. I had tracked it with an Apple air tag which was not always right, but came around at some point. It traveled on our flights all the way.

Off Apex a few weeks ago. Haslinger not available. Mountadon was. Not as good as it was in the past unfortunately.

We had several duplicate charges we needed to reverse while onboard Apex. One popped up a second time. A bit of a PIA to have to watch this daily then get someone to fix it but that’s the way it is I suppose.

We did get what we considered above and beyond service from our steward, butler and regular waiter in Luminae. We did give them each an additional cash gratuity.

We are just off Apex. The champagne widely available was Montaudon not Haslinger. Montaudon has had its day but what we had was just passable. The sparkling wine in our suite was from France but not a champagne. It was just OK. In general we were disappointed with the wine selections. We enjoyed Luminae with just a few misses. We also had an Aqua Sky suite. We thought we’d take advantage of the thermal suite and Blu, but we did not. If you don’t you are spending a lot of money above the coast of a sky suite and getting nothing for it. You’ve sailed top cruise lines where there are all suites. Celebrity retreat class is there attempt to replicate that. You’ll be in a bubble of sorts but one trip to the OVC on a sea day will pop that! We enjoyed our cruise but would consider the lines you have cruised for our next adventure (add Crystal to the mix).

Both Caymus and Grgich are well known Napa cabs (I assume you mean the cab) but IMHO are very overpriced. Caymus tends to be a big bold have it with a steak kind of wine while Grgich, in good years, seems more balanced to me. One of the problems they and many producers are facing is climate change. The summers are hot and long which produces really ripe grapes. The wines are higher in alcohol and jammy. Lots of folks like that style and seek it out so the wineries roll with it. The cabs from Sonoma county always seemed a little softer. Now to me they drink like the Napa cabs of 10 years ago and that’s what I go for although I drink far more Pinot Noir than cab. BTW Grgich makes a great Chardonnay in cool years. Problem is, not many cool years.

Forgot to mention: luggage valet worked brilliantly. Cost $29. We had one large suitcase we sent along. Butler delivered our boarding passes and the luggage tag the afternoon before departure. Next saw the bag at our home airport.

Her badge said butler. She told me she had 23 staterooms. But same woman served as our butler. Honestly, we are low maintenance. I like fetching our cappuccinos and treats from Bacio every morning using my little caddy which I ordered from Amazon thanks to a tip on this forum.

We cruised many times when our now 40 something kids were little. We then spent years touring mostly Europe independently and on Rick Steves tours. We started getting back to cruising and had two Celebrity cruises under our belts when the world shut down. We are mid 70’s and active. This was a 75th birthday cruise! We booked an Aqua Sky Suite on Apex, Boarding was an amazingly fast. From the Uber to stateroom maybe 15 minutes. We toured the spa and although we liked it the aggressive sales attempts were a turnoff. We lunched at Luminae and enjoyed the first of many very good meals. And I don’t mean good for cruise food, I mean as good as it gets with a (very) few exceptions. We had two specialty dinners-La Petite Chef, which we have done twice before (I know, I know, but my wife loves it. Did you hear her laughter by chance?) and Eden. Both meals were very good. Eden maybe a slight edge on Luminae but not by much. We enjoyed excellent service throughout our cruise. We had a butler who had the steward empty our fridge and stocked it with our requested waters daily. She dutifully refreshed our champagne bucket when we did not uncork the welcome bottle. On our return from dinner on my birthday we found that she and our steward had decorated our room with balloons and left a bottle of wine and a charcuterie plate. What a nice surprise! The only shortfall, IMHO, was in the wine department. Full disclosure: we live in California in one of the lesser known wine regions and visit Napa and or Sonoma county 4-5 times per year. Our son is a sommelier and a wine distributor in CO. The world is awash in really good wine. There are so many that are well priced. Why RCG with its buying power can’t do better in this department is beyond me. I know there is a lot of love on this board for Decoy cab but, believe me folks, there are many better at the same price. And the selection of Pinot Noir, a really versatile food friendly wine was pitiful. We did not use the additional perks the Aqua Sky Suite came with and in hindsight the additional cost over a standard Sky Suite was a waste of money. We thought we would, but we just didn’t. If I had to do it over I would have booked a Celebrity Suite or bigger. We enjoyed sailing on Apex. Being a Retreat guest made it for us. We can never go back. The lounge was comfortable, the cocktails well made. Never talk of any upcharge there; not even a need to show our sea pass. The Retreat pool was nice but there are not enough shaded areas on the pool side of the deck. As I mentioned above the food and service at Luminae was exceptional. I even tried the famed pig foot carpaccio and turned it back (the couple next to us ate it with gusto). Several times we ordered shrimp cocktail, escargot, ceaser salad which were always available as was filet. debating our next cruise. If we sail in a higher priced cabin we are paying about the same as a higher end cruise line. Since we don’t gamble, and only go to a few of the shows it’s a conundrum as we enjoy Celebrity.

Aboard APEX. Luminae open for lunch today. A port day, St. Thomas with an early arrival and a 3 PM ish departure. Even our butler did not know, so, it varies.

On board Apex in aqua sky suite. We have a butler she introduced herself on day 1. She was by today with waters for the fridge and to fill the champagne bucket with fresh ice. She has 23 suites so busy. But for what we need, it’s fine. We enjoy a stroll to Bacio in the AM, getting our cappuccino’s and sweets. Would rather do that than have delivery. Retreat concierge staff is splendid and will take care of anything you need.