20165

Hi, we are trying to decide between Princess Sky and Celebrity Apex over the Christmas holiday this year. Week before to be exact. Im posting this in the Princess forum because we cruised Celebrity twice last year so we are pretty familiar with that experience where we havent cruised Princess since 2000ish... From what we remember, we liked the experience, but if any of you that maybe cruise both, can you give us your preference on one or the other? Both seem pretty comparable and we are ok with both itineraries. We are cruising with our 2 sons, 20-17 in their own cabin and wife and i in an adjoining or next door. Mini suites for both. Celebrity we are looking at a balconies and not the infinity varanda. We had that last cruise and weren't huge fans. We liked the Celebrity experience and the kids did as well given they are old enough to enjoy a more adult experience vs. the RCL and NCL cruises we took prior. Basically i think we have all outgrown those cruise lines are are looking for a more laid back upscale experience.

So, just a quick follow up on this. We did finally got it resolved last night but we didnt get any responses from the emails, we had to call customer service and wait the hour... Just an FYI, if you purchase the photo package online prior to the cruise, there is something they have to do in the photo center for you to get your digital prints after the cruise. Some $0 transaction so it looks like you purchased the package on the ship. The photocenter lady we talked to said we only had to put our email address in, which we did, and we would automatically get them. Not so. We ended up getting a file from Mailchimp, not the usual RCL login site so what we purchased online definitely didnt transfer to the ship. However the customer service lady we talked to was able to see our purchase. Wierd. Anyway, all worked out, but next time i will either purchase on the ship, or make sure they do that $0 purchase thing.

Just a quick note on our experience last month, 12/23, we got off apex around 9, no rush given our flight wasnt until 1. Once we walked out, we were directed to go either right or left, right, buses and taxies i think, left private pickup or ride share. We ordered a uber premium SUV, suburban, and it was there in about 5 minutes. price to FLL was around $50. I dont know if we just got off at the right time, but i dont think it could have been any easier for us and i didnt think the price was bad for that type of vehicle. Also, we carried off our luggage which i think makes the previous night a lot less stressful not having to think about what to save out for the next day and possibly forgetting something. Like shoes which we have done in the past. I guess better that than pants...

Thank you so much for this. Im assuming it will go directly to the Apex photo shop. We have been emailing the general celebrity email address.

We were on the Apex, 12/17-23 and ordered the digital photo package prior to the cruise online. Before we left the ship, we checked with the person working the photo area and she said as long as our email was associated with the cabin out photos were going to, we would automatically get a email 4-7 days with the link to download them. Fast-forward to today and no link, however, other people that were on the same cruise got theirs over the weekend. Should in be in panic mode or just give it a couple more days? We were on silhouette in November and we had the link within 4 days, however, we purchased the package on the ship. We are very concerned because we did a lot of photo shoots with our family and if they are lost, it would be awful. thx

We also got a 1L bottle of vodka with our cabana. Needless to say, we had plenty to take back to the room.

I wouldnt worry too much about reservations in the MDR. The first time we ate there it was maybe a 20 minute wait, they gave us a beeper so we could go to the bar and continue to drink... The second time we walked right in. Both were around that 7pm prime time.

We had anytime, but i think you are correct because a couple we were taking to said their fixed time dining was changed about a month before their cruise by celebrity.

7 which i understand is primetime which i understand is primetime, but thats when we like to eat. And all im trying to say is we didnt have a good experience in the MDR and i wish we would have booked all speciality prior to the cruise so we wouldnt have to scramble once on board to try to find one that was still taking reservations around the time we like to eat. I didnt say we had a horrible cruise, but just the opposite, we had a great time, but the MDR was just not to our liking. Not a big deal.

Ah, that was exactly our thought. Maybe it was just the first one we went to, Cosmopolitan, so we also tried the Tuscan. Same, cold food, slow service. And again, not a knock at all on the wait staff, they were trying as hard as they could, there just wasnt enough of them. An earlier post mentioned that its just our opinion which i 100% agree with, but what i wished i considered is that the ship was 100% full so there may be some service issues so i should have booked the speciality restaurants in advance because when we realized we had an issue with the MDR, the earliest we could make reservation at the speciality restaurants was after 9pm if at all. We had pre booked the steakhouse and La Petit in advance because we knew we wanted to do those two restaurants. We tried a walk on at Eden and it actually worked out with some waiting at the bar, very lucky. And our waiter at the steakhouse from our first night there saw us trying to get a reservation the last night and helped get us in. And i didnt think they were overpriced at all. i think most were $60 or less per person so i should have just booked them all in advance. Again, just my opinion. thx

To be fair, when we were on Silhouette last month, it was only about 60% full which im sure factored into our experience. Im pretty sure Apex was 100% full last week given the holiday.

It was kind of a bummer not having some of the amities as the bigger RCL ships for the kids, especially my 19yo, hes really into video games and the NCL ship we were on last year had VR room, however, they both said they preferred not having those options for a more laid back, less small kid experience on Celebrity.

really no way to prevent the cabin getting hot with that window open. Fortunately its december so it was terrible, but there was no way my wife would allow it to be open when she was getting ready for dinner. Possibly if you close the slider doors it may have helped, but if you do that you cant see out anyway because its frosted glass. Buffet food was awesome. I would have to say one of the best buffets we have encountered.

Oh yes, signs with our names on them. and it was uncomfortable. Fortunately our waiter did the dirty work for us. Must be pretty common because he seemed pretty good at it.

I tried to keep this short and sweet and failed... We were on Apex 12/17-23 and had a great time. We were also on Silhouette a month ago so you will see some comparisons in this review to that. Little about us, we are in our early 50s traveling with our 2 teenage boys, 19/16yo. We both had Infinite verandah cabins on deck 9 with a connection door. We have cruised a lot. First one being on the original Marti Gras in 1980 when I was 10. We grew up in FL and have been on pretty much every mainstream cruise line. Day before trip and Embarkation – We flew down the day before the cruise and stayed at the AC hotel in Ft Lauderdale which was very close to the cruise terminal. Nice, new hotel that was in walking distance to quite a few restaurants. No issues with the flight, or stay at the hotel. Next day we left the hotel at 11, and got the pier about 11:20. Our check-in time was 12. We checked our bags with the porter and basically walked right on the ship. No lines at security or checking in with the handheld devices. We went to our room and dropped our bags and were at the buffet before noon. I don’t think they could have made the check-in process easier. Ship – Very nice and very new. My wife and I preferred the silhouette but our kids liked the Apex, although they weren’t on silhouette with us so they really didn’t have that comparison. The Silhouette just seemed easier to navigate. The magic carpet was a little gimmicky, but it was nice to tender from it in grand cayman. They had a great gym which the kids appreciated. The pool area what bigger than other ships we have been on, but the hot tubs were in an odd location. 2 decks above the pool deck. Kinda hard to figure out how to get to, but also probably cut down on the number of people using them because it was a hike to get up there. Cabins – Hmm, im still pondering if I liked them over a regular balcony. We had the infinite veranda cabins and when we fist got there, it was really cool, but we only ended up opening the window 3-4 times because it just made the cabin too hot and humid. However, I did like the extra room that was considered the balcony. Also, the tech in the room was awesome. Being able to control everything from your phone was great and the USB ports were plentiful. Overall, I probably would book an infinite veranda over a traditional balcony all things being equal. I guess both have their pros and cons. I will say those folding doors between the veranda and the rest of the room were useless. Didn’t block out any light so I really cant figure out what they are there for. Maybe it would have kept the room cooler if the window was open?? Food – This is where there were some disappointments. We did 3 specialty restaurants, La Petit chef, Eden and the steakhouse two times. All were great, the steakhouse being the best in our opinion and reason we did it twice. The other reason was the MDR was not good at all. Seemed very short staffed and both times the food arrived cold. I don’t know if they were short staffed by design to push you toward the specialty restaurants or they just didn’t have enough staff. Luckily we were able to get reservation at the steak house the last night because it was either that or the buffet… Nothing against the MDR staff, but you could tell they were scrambling. The steakhouse and Eden were outstanding. La Petite was, well you know, dinner and a show… So, fun fact about the food, my oldest son has a severe peanut allergy and somehow got some in one of his dishes. We specifically buy the insurance for just this reason so we immediately went to medical. Got the usual steroid shot, Benadryl and something else, cant remember, spent about an hour down there after that to be observed and all of that was no charge because it happened in one of their restaurants. We even told them we had the insurance, but they said any food allergies caused by the ship were no charge to treat. Second fund fact, I asked the question before the cruise about our 19yo being able to drink on the ship given on NCL he was allowed to order beer and wine. On Apex, as long as he was with us, they let him drink whatever her wanted. Wine at dinner, pre dinner drinks, etc. He didn’t go crazy, but it was a much more relaxed atmosphere when it came to serving someone under 21. Shore excursions – Key West, did the Fury snorkel. Was great, we also did it the month before on silhouette so we knew what to expect. Cozumel we did scuba, also wonderful and very close to the ship which was nice. Grand Cayman we did the shipwreck snorkel. Was ok. Seemed rushed and the boat was packed. Would have rather spent a little more for less people and more attentive boat crew. I can give more detail if anyone is interested in any of these excursions. Sea days – We rented a cabana the first sea day and I highly recommend it. We unsuccessfully tried to get it for the second sea day… It was $300 and included a bottle of Vodka or champagne food, beverages, etc. It was awesome. Only downside is we would leave for the pool and come back to find people in our cabana. Our waiter did a great job of shewing them away, but it had to be done several times during the day. I think part of the problem is there is a walkway between cabanas. I think the new ship they turned them around to face the pool which im sure would have helped. Anyway, even with the rude people, we would still do it again. Made the sea day very enjoyable. Disembarkation – This is where it went sideways. Getting off the ship was super easy and our flight wasn’t until 1:30 so no rush. We tried to wait until the very end and ended up getting off around 9:30. We were at the airport by 10:30 checked in and at the gate. Then the flight was cancelled and we ended up renting a car and driving 12 hours home… Im sure it happened to a lot of people. In fact, when we got to Charlotte airport to drop off the rental and pick up our car, there was another FL car that was just turned in doing the same thing. I travel a lot for work and very rarely does my flight get cancelled, but of course it had to happen to the family when we were coming back from vacation… Oh well, all worked out and the AA has already refunded our money which is great and unexpected. I expected a fight. Overall, we love Celebrity but aren’t exclusive with them. Our scheduled dictates our cruise lines, with the exception of Carnival, we wont ever sail them again. I think we are done with RCL and NCL because our kids did like the more adult atmosphere of celebrity, but I think they would also get that on HAL and Princess.

Schweet. Thx.

If your on apex they have a really good smoking area, lots of cigar smokers on Deck 15. Sad I didn’t bring any. I don’t think you can buy them on board unless they are in the sundry shop and I missed them.

Ok so here’s how it actually works.on apex right now and after 2 days our experience is the servers just ask us if we are ok with our 19 yo drinking. However i don’t think they would serve him if we weren’t with him given they do know he’s only 19 and they do ask every time. At dinner we just order a bottle of wine and they serve him no questions asked. They actually tried to serve our 16yo but we stopped that.

So far. This thing is awesome. Again. Not super hot but it really does make the room feel bigger. The tech on this ship is also awesome. Control everything from your phone. Wonderful.

We’re in Ft. Lauderdale…. Last I checked that’s a U.S. port

Yep. Also we did ask at the customer service desk and they said they would allow him to drink with a waver outside of the us port. He also said the waiters will most likely let him drink wine at dinner.

Uh oh.

Ill take some of that action. We board tomorrow so ill let you know. 9 times out of 10 they dont have the beds in the right configuration so them recognizing that there are 2 under 21 people in the room and locking the fridge is unlikely…

Exactly. Just like when hes in his dorm at college, im not controlling what hes doing. If he does something wrong, i will have to deal with it, but im not checking on him to make sure hes being a 'good boy'...

we get on apex tomorrow and have 2 infinite varandas. My guess is my wife and i will like them because we always get regular balconies, and never use them. Well, maybe to hang up our bathing suits... Our kids on the other hand might not. They do use the balconies more than we do. should be interesting and a new experience. Not sure how no air-conditioning when the window is open will go over, especially when my wife is getting ready for dinner. But hopefully it wont be as ridiculously hot this time of year in the Caribbean.