Canadianhey!

Looking for a hotel near the airport for a post cruise night with shuttle service. Prices seem high. Any suggestions. 

1 hour ago, Canadianhey! said:

Nope definitely has not cruised in a while 

Nope definitely has cruised in a while 

Apex does so I imagine Beyond does

5 hours ago, TheHawk1 said:

There is another Apex review on the boards now, from the same cruise I believe. They seem to have had a more positive vacation than you, so I hope theirs is closer to my own trip when I board Apex in two weeks.

I found it interesting you focused on the interaction with your wait staff rather than the food itself? Personally, I don’t care whether I develop a relationship with crew members. Sure, it’s helpful if they know your drink order or coffee preferences after night two, but it won’t make or break my dining experience. I’d much rather the food be good and I get in and out in a timely fashion, so I can spend my evening doing other things. 

 

 

I found the food is good, just not as much variety as they use to have. I am not a big foodie so as long as it has taste I am happy. As I previously stated Desert is the best up in the buffet.

Part 2 of review

First let me say I totally agree with  D.B. with the waiters having a hard time getting to know their clients. As in my previous post we did find one that did get to know us even though we only spent one night with them. So these two proved it is doable. But yes I believe it is much hard.

Now on with the rest:

Celebrity App: It just sucks. One of our excursions got cancelled, so I popped down to the excursion desk are asked to be moved to the shark excursion. I was told that they didn't have an excursion like that, guess they should of told the app. I miss the interactive tv for the excursions (never thought I would say that). We were told lots to swipe up to refresh. I think Celebrity app is similar to their website - needs a lot of work. You soon learnt not to believe the app.

Excursions: Our Belize snorkeling trip got cancelled the day before. I believe they cancelled it to early. The day in Belize was fine. Water was not rough. Half hour tender ride was not rough. Many of us sat on shore at a bar wondering why water sport was cancelled. There was little choices available from the ship to pick another excursion. Many unhappy people on board that day.

Entertainment: They seem to have lots of technical difficulties. One show after 20 minutes of technical difficulties we left to find other things to do.  Two other times in the Eden things were slowed due to technical difficulties. Not sure how many roving entertainment singers they had but it seemed that everywhere we where it was the same 2 people. Shows were good as usual, no complaints. If you showed up at the theater 20 mins early, you weren't getting a seat without a real search. It seemed to me that the theater was smaller than other ship, but might be just the way I saw it.

Stateroom: We stay in a Sunset room. Got a bit of noise coming from the Eden which was right under us but nothing to really bother a person. Room was huge and lots of closet room. As we have never stayed in a Sunset stateroom I can't compare it to any other ship. Touch control lighting is very nice. I washed the railing everyday due to soot being collected on it. Gave up on my stateroom attendant doing it so did it myself.

In closing I found the staff not as friendly or as happy as the other ships. Maybe they just have to many things to handle but it seemed like they just didn't have time for you. Maybe the many cuts Celebrity has made over the years is finally catching up with them.

I have always loved Celebrity but I am now one of the people that will look at other cruise lines as alternative to Celebrity. I always believed that by paying a premium price for a cruise I was getting premium service. 

Just finished an Apex cruise on Feb 10th.  First the good things. Beautiful ship, embarkment and departure a breeze. I  never thought that there was a problem with that anyway, but now super easy (as long as you are sort of tech savy).

Food: Variety of options definitely declined but food taste is good. First night we had reservations for 6 pm, but the line up was a quarter of the way down the ship. An officer came by and told us that we could go to another restaurant without the line up. He said 80% of the menu was the same, so that is what we did. Moved from the Cosmopolitan to the Cyprus. Reservations apparently mean nothing now. Many complaints through the cruise from people waiting for tables eventhough they had reservations.  Took us 40 minutes from the time we ordered desert til it was brought to us. From then on we would skip desert and just run up to the buffet and grab it. Desert in the buffet is the best. 

Only in 1 restaurant did we find the old Celebrity staff. Rometerio and Rama took the time to chat. All other restaurants you where treated like if you went out in your home town for a meal. Order, eat and get out. Rometerio explained the menu, asked how your day was, what you did, etc. (Remember those days). It also was the only time we didn't have to ask for a pepper shaker that wasn't empty. These two gentlemen are amazing. Almost put my faith back into Celebrity.

I wish they would band cell phone during meals. We spent 4 nights of the trips either listening to Tik Tok videos, or video chats from tables 6 inches away from us. Just my personal preference of course.

Stateroom: So whether it was our attendant fault or Celebrity not sure. No pen or pad of paper, or laundry form in the room. Only 2 makeup wipes supplied, never given any more. Stateroom gentlemen was pretty much non existent. He did bring us our requested ice and water twice a day. I asked him for some garbage bags for the can in the room and was told that Celebrity doesn't use them anymore. The statement people are expected to disinfect them on a daily basis. Shampoo, conditioner, and lotion are now in large containers not individual. I have hair that is down to my waist and the first night I found out that the shampoo didn't lather up at all. First port I went and bought shampoo and conditioner. The lotion was fine. If I had any questions I would go find another stateroom attendant as mine never seem to be around.

I will carry on the rest of my review tomorrow.

Just got off a celebrity cruise and seriously the app sucks. Shows excursions and activities that they don't even have. They are constantly telling you to swipe up to refresh. They are pushing a crappy app

Thank you all. That is what I am looking for quiet and not crowded. 

I see the Apex does not have the sky lounge so I am looking for a replacement lounge to have a quiet drink before supper. Suggestions?

With the exchange rate so poor making hotel prices so high, where is everyone staying before the cruise. We will be there for 2 days so need shopping and food near the hotel.

Sorry yes fll Airport 

Looking at a 9 pm flight. What can we possibly do between leaving ship and flight with luggage.

Looks like shore excursions, from the boat, would still get you back to airport still about noonish.  Which makes it still a long time to wait.

Thanks you any ideas

I have a cruise booked in April 2024. I have heard that there are many changes now since before covid. Is it true that they are now charging for the second lobster? And that I now can't take my non elite cabin mate for a free drink before supper? What other changes am I going to run into?

7 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

If you are Elite then your spouse is eligible to be Elite as well.  Just notify Captain's Club. 

Many of my cabin mates have not been Elite and have never had an issue getting free drinks for them. They take my card and bring back the drinks. It has always been that cabin mate are treated same as highest level person. When did this change?

Does celebrity still use to credit card style keycard to get into you cabin or did they go towards some other kind of entry  i.e. medallion, phone scan etc. 

I vaguely remember some talk about them changing. 

21 hours ago, KreinKrunker said:

That's a rate of 54%.  Taxes in Fort Lauderdale are about 14%.  Some booking sites charge a booking fee, and some hotels have a resort fee, usually $30-$50/day.  Can not explain that amount.  Just taxes in your example should be about $64.

It was on the hotel website but I can't remember which one. There was no breakdown on the taxes charged. I was just wondering what recovery tax means. I just moved on to find a different hotel. Thanks for your info

Can anyone  explain to me why there is such high tax and fees added to a hotel. I just put a couple if dates in and this is what I get from the hotel website. To me it seem pretty high.   I can't find out what these taxes are. Anyone know.

01/01/2024  $228.64

01/02/2024  $228.64

Tax Recovery and Fees: $247.94 USD

Does Riverside Hotel have a shuttle to the cruise port?

Sorry I meant fall of 2023. We were looking at the Caribbean.  So far they only have the spring of 2023 posted.

Can anyone tell me when the fall of 2022 will be on their site. Looking to book a girls reunion.

Thanks

So if the cruise lines are pushing to use their app on board now instead of paper, account access on tv, etc. - Where does this leave people who do not buy the wifi packages or have it given as a perk. Those of us from another country just put our phones on flight mode - where will that leave us to access dinning reservations etc.

Celebrity's app is all well and good if you have a wifi connections, what about those who also do not have phones at all?

Just some questions that have crossed my mind as I look forward to getting back cruising.

I have a 12 day Caribbean cruise booked and now see they have perk included. My booking was moved from this year to next year without perks. Now I am trying to figure out how much the perks are worth and how much the cost of the cruise has gone up.   Could someone tell me what the individual costs are for wifi, classic drinks, tips would cost for a 12 day cruise.  That part of the website is down as usual. 

Does anyone know if there is shopping for forgotten items, as well as Liquor, and restaurants close to this hotel.  This hotel is on Maritime Blvd.  Thanks

My sister and I are planning a cruise.  I am elite and she is not.  With the new policy of adding on to your card the event how does she get her drinks?  Before it was not a problem but we have not cruised since the changes.