1st Cruise ~ Celebrity Apex ~ Sep 2020

[Cinta0508]

Hi, This is our first cruise and we are very excited. We are sailing on Celebrity Apex in Sep 2020, through France, Italy & Spain.

 

We have booked a Sunset Veranda and the Premium drinks package, as we both like our Cocktail.

 

I am looking for any advise on cruising in general, Celebrity Cruise line and shore excursions. I am a bit confused as to what I should be doing now? 

 

I would love any hints / tips you could share with me or any recommendations to do on Celebrity Apex. 

 

I am really interested in booking the thermal journey and potentially dining on the magic carpet but non of these are currently showing as options for me.

 

ANY HELP ADVICE would be very much appreciated.

[justcrusn]

So, you have made excellent choices so far.

Next, find the roll call for your cruise on this site. There you will meet the others on your trip and share ideas and plans for excursions etc. 
I think it is an incredible resource!

[Miaminice]

You have booked an excellent ship. The problem is, you´ll be spoiled for the rest of your cruising life :-)

 

My advice as to what to do on the ship: Don´t ask for too much advice :-)
Go with the flow... find out what you like! You can´t go wrong.

You are going to receive many (well meant) recommendations to do this and that - based on years of experience of frequent cruisers. Don´t stress yourself. It´s all going to be new and fabulous anyway... just enjoy. 

Edited January 14, 2020 by Miaminice

[dani negreanu]

If your cruise includes the port of Napoli/Naples, I can highly recommend this company, which caters a lot to cruise ships passengers -- Joe Banana

 

https://www.joebananalimos.net/cruise-port-tours

 

[NinaBlue22]

Congratulations! We are sailing on the Apex in June, it’s our first time with Celebrity and I’m excited about sailing on a brand new ship. 
 

Because Apex hasn’t sailed yet, I’ve been reading threads and reviews from the Edge to have some idea on what to expect. Joining a roll call for your cruise is also a great idea! I would also recommend keeping an eye on the boards for any online sales Celebrity is doing for excursions/use of your onboard credit. I was able to book an excursion I had my eye on at a discount, and get the unlimited photo package half off because of these message boards.
 

We also ended up booking our flights through Celebrity air (three different phone calls with them, outstanding help and service on all of them) and saved a ton of money. If you still need to book your flights, it’s worth a call to them to compare prices.

 

 

Edited January 14, 2020 by NinaBlue22

[Miaminice]

1 hour ago, NinaBlue22 said:

If you still need to book your flights, it’s worth a call to them to compare prices.

 

Nina, the OP is from the UK. In my experience booking flights in Europe and within Europe through Celebrity isn´t worth it.
Unfortunately...

[lola2013]

You will LOVE the Sunset Verandah.  My friend and I had one on deck 9 on Edge last month.  The view of the wake is outstanding; no problem with the extra steps to the back of the ship...helps work off the delicious meals.  If you have half as good a time on Apex as we had on Edge, it will be fantastic!

Enjoy.

[Cinta0508]

23 hours ago, justcrusn said:

So, you have made excellent choices so far.

Next, find the roll call for your cruise on this site. There you will meet the others on your trip and share ideas and plans for excursions etc. 
I think it is an incredible resource!

 

[Cinta0508]

Thank you for that advice, I will definitely go and find the Roll Call.

[Cinta0508]

22 hours ago, Miaminice said:

You have booked an excellent ship. The problem is, you´ll be spoiled for the rest of your cruising life :-)

 

My advice as to what to do on the ship: Don´t ask for too much advice :-)
Go with the flow... find out what you like! You can´t go wrong.

You are going to receive many (well meant) recommendations to do this and that - based on years of experience of frequent cruisers. Don´t stress yourself. It´s all going to be new and fabulous anyway... just enjoy. 

 

Thankyou so much... The ship does look absolutely out of this world!! I said the same thing to my husband, we will spoil any other potential cruise doing this as our first! Lol

[Cinta0508]

21 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

If your cruise includes the port of Napoli/Naples, I can highly recommend this company, which caters a lot to cruise ships passengers -- Joe Banana

 

https://www.joebananalimos.net/cruise-port-tours

 

This is great, thank you. Naples & Rome are two of our Ports. I have had a look at some of the tours available & the company you recommended seems to be very reasonable. Thank you x

21 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

 

[Cinta0508]

21 hours ago, NinaBlue22 said:

Congratulations! We are sailing on the Apex in June, it’s our first time with Celebrity and I’m excited about sailing on a brand new ship. 
 

Because Apex hasn’t sailed yet, I’ve been reading threads and reviews from the Edge to have some idea on what to expect. Joining a roll call for your cruise is also a great idea! I would also recommend keeping an eye on the boards for any online sales Celebrity is doing for excursions/use of your onboard credit. I was able to book an excursion I had my eye on at a discount, and get the unlimited photo package half off because of these message boards.
 

We also ended up booking our flights through Celebrity air (three different phone calls with them, outstanding help and service on all of them) and saved a ton of money. If you still need to book your flights, it’s worth a call to them to compare prices.

 

 

 

I have been doing the same, I am watching lots of you tube videos of the Edge and it is getting me so excited! The ship looks absolutely Beautiful.

 

I hope you have a fabulous time x

[Cinta0508]

19 hours ago, Miaminice said:

 

Nina, the OP is from the UK. In my experience booking flights in Europe and within Europe through Celebrity isn´t worth it.
Unfortunately...

 

Yes, you are correct. The flights direct through Celebrity were sooooo expensive compared to booking them seperate in the UK. I was able to save over half the cost of what celebrity wanted. 

 

Celebrity wanted £750 to fly return from the UK to Barcelona (1hr 30 flight time) & I have sourced flights for £300. 

 

We are flying out 3 days before the cruise ... one to enjoy Barcelona & two, to ensure we dont miss the cruise!! LOL

[Cinta0508]

19 hours ago, lola2013 said:

You will LOVE the Sunset Verandah.  My friend and I had one on deck 9 on Edge last month.  The view of the wake is outstanding; no problem with the extra steps to the back of the ship...helps work off the delicious meals.  If you have half as good a time on Apex as we had on Edge, it will be fantastic!

Enjoy.

 

Oh I am glad that you enjoyed it so much. We are so excited! I am not even bothered about the extra steps... I look at it as a positive, I can eat a bit more of the yummy food!! Lol

[hcat]

Sunset Veranda is great..loved it on EDGE  and we have booked it for APEX! Lots of walking to/from  elev but worth it.

 

You should make dining res as early as possible for  the 4  mdrs if you chose Select Dining option over fixed.. ( in Select you can pick a diff one each night),   and also make  Specialty Dining Res in advance for best selection,

 

Only AQ  Class guests  have access to  beautiful thermal suites uncluded in their cruise fare,  But you can book a pass for your cruise...pricey!

 

Booking Dining on the EDGE ( magic carpet) should be done the moment you board..even trying then, we were waitlisted and never called. Mostly suite guests and VIPs seem to get it..but some others have too and loved it!

 

Enjoy the artwork,..get the  art book handout if there is obe for APEX!

Edited January 15, 2020 by hcat

[Cinta0508]

19 minutes ago, hcat said:

Sunset Veranda is great..loved it on EDGE  and we have booked it for APEX! Lots of walking to/from  elev but worth it.

 

You should make dining res as early as possible for  the 4  mdrs if you chose Select Dining option over fixed.. ( in Select you can pick a diff one each night),   and also make  Specialty Dining Res in advance for best selection,

 

Only AQ  Class guests  have access to  beautiful thermal suites uncluded in their cruise fare,  But you can book a pass for your cruise...pricey!

 

Booking Dining on the EDGE ( magic carpet) should be done the moment you board..even trying then, we were waitlisted and never called. Mostly suite guests and VIPs seem to get it..but some others have too and loved it!

 

Enjoy the artwork,..get the  art book handout if there is obe for APEX!

I love the picture of the wake from your balcony. I am over the moon that we got a SV. 

 

We have select dining, you mentioned booked as soon as possible? Does that mean I should be making the daily reservations now? 

 

We are unsure when to dine.... we can't decide if we should dine early and then enjoy the bars and shows etc or enjoy those first and dine later? 

 

I was hoping I could make the reservations on the ship but are you suggesting I should be doing it now? 

 

Thanks again for the pics and advice, its appreciated  x

[hcat]

If you have Select dining  I'd  book now to get your fav  choices ...and time slots.  We dine at 6 , so we had pre dinner drinks in the main area near Martini Bar,  and then moved on  to dinner in whichever dining rm we selected.    That was perfect  to get nice window view seats for dinner,  and for making the early show at 7:30..some time before hand  to get a drink, look at photo kiosk etc.  Also good timing for other events like aerial show in the Club and EDEN show and other music....

 

If you prefer a later dining time you can work it out to suit your preferences. And you can book diff times on diff nites...we stick to 6  pm for med reasons.( easier to balance blood sugar)

 

But yes,   I would book now to avoid disapointment..you can always adjust while on board! Just my opinion.... others prefer a more free spirit approach..no one goes hungry.

 

We sail APEX in Nov and have  booked 2 nites each in Tuscan, Cyprus and Normandie, plus 1 night at Fine Cut.  Cosmo is used for breakfast and lunch so we skipped it for dinner.. It was not out favorite