Live from Celebrity Apex Sept 25th & Oct 3rd B2B!

[jagoffee]

4 hours ago, MR_T said:

On a separate note... we we’re discussing last night that we are sure there are things we might not be aware of that we might be missing out on as this is our first suite experience? If anyone has any tips or suggestions please let us know 👍🏼😊 

Since I have yet to experience the Edge Class ship, my experiences are from the Solstice Class.

 

If you do not have a premium drink package, you can get some of the drinks on the package for no extra charge in the Retreat Lounge.  On the Solstice Class ships there are usually water, soda, and beer that you get out of a cooler in the lounge.

You can ask in the Retreat if you are interested in a Sail Away . (I am not sure if the Apex has a helicopter deck)

 

A big one is if you need anything, future cruise information, excursions (you won’t need this), other reservations, etc. you do not need to stand in any line.  They will meet you in the Retreat Lounge and/or make arrangements for you.

 

Sometimes they have a separate line when returning to the ship. 
 

Since your cruise has a limited number of people, most of the priority items are not necessary.

 

 

 

[SNJCruisers]

6 hours ago, MR_T said:

 

 

 

What does this remind you of?  🤔

[SNJCruisers]

4 hours ago, hcat said:

Ship seems  much like EDGE...would like to sail on APEX some day.

The Casino bar on the Edge is now the Craft Social Bar on Apex with an expanded beer menu and even cocktails on tap.  The theater got a major upgrade with state of the art background screens. 

Our last cruise in January of 2020 was on the Edge and we booked a comparable week for next January in the same IV cabin.  We recently made it a B2B by swapping out our 5 day on the NCL Joy for an extra 5 on the Apex.

[meeshell]

Do you know if you can upgrade your alcohol package when you are on the ship and get it prorated?

 

[vickykay]

We have often done that. 

[SCGirl3211]

10 hours ago, MR_T said:

Cruise 2 day 4 - Messina 

 

welcome to Messina everybody 😊 we are halfway through this cruise 😢

 

As they require anyone wanting to get off in Messina to do a ship excursions we decided to stay on the ship, we will not do ship excursions again after previous ones we’ve tried years ago, some people love them a lot of people hate them and we’re definitely in the later group 😂 I’ve ranted about this on other threads, I just don’t see how I’m considered to be safer vs doing a private tour vs a full bus tour! 🤷🏼‍♂️

 

As our suite experience was cut short we are very happy to stay onboard and may well do so for Palma & Valencia also as we’ve been a few times already so for us 4 days of suite life is ahead of us,  to be honest our main reason to get off in Palma was to get a gelato... 😂 but maybe that can wait... 😜 

 

On a personal note  we’ve not been to Messina before so hopefully we get the opportunity to come back and see it, it is actually on our bucket list to visit on a land base vacation so maybe we’ll just wait for that to happen 😊 

 

 

What in Messina would you like to have seen?  We are scheduled to be there in 2022.  Would love to know what is not to be missed/seen/done.  Thanks

[Miaminice]

9 minutes ago, SCGirl3211 said:

What in Messina would you like to have seen?  We are scheduled to be there in 2022.  Would love to know what is not to be missed/seen/done.  Thanks

Taormina - an absolute must!

[SCGirl3211]

7 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

Sure thing h - YET The Edge is Our ship as we followed that one from the initial announcement of the build to its' launch...

 

We had great times way back then in speculation, visual and film process of the ship and etc...

 

Not that The Apex is not just as, if not more wonderful and beautiful as Mr_T's blog and photos are proving...

 

Mr_T keep it coming and thanks!!!

ma

bon voyage buddy

That was of the most fun I have had on Cruise Critic.  The anticipation and conjecture surrounding The Edge made for riveting conversations and speculation.  We had some people in the know who amazed me with the detail they could gather from a grainy, far off photo.  Thanks for reminding me how exciting that time was!

[bama4cruisin]

13 minutes ago, SCGirl3211 said:

What in Messina would you like to have seen?  We are scheduled to be there in 2022.  Would love to know what is not to be missed/seen/done.  Thanks

We had a wonderful day a few years ago.  I booked a tour with Sicily by Mario, and we had about 8 or 10 from our roll call.  We visited Savoca, which was a village in The Godfather; visited Castlemola; finished with a nice, long visit to Taormina.  An absolutely wonderful day!

[MR_T]

1 hour ago, SCGirl3211 said:

What in Messina would you like to have seen?  We are scheduled to be there in 2022.  Would love to know what is not to be missed/seen/done.  Thanks

Pretty much the stuff already mentioned, the wife loves all the European old stuff so all the cathedrals/churches and all the old buildings, I’m more into the mafia stuff so would love to do the walks around the godfather set areas,

 

Plus we are partial to a gelato or nice fresh Italian cannoli 😋 

 

It just seems a very interesting city to us, we plan to do a few longer European road trips once julie retires fully 😊

[MR_T]

1 hour ago, Miaminice said:

Taormina - an absolute must!

Next time I guess 😊

[MR_T]

3 hours ago, meeshell said:

Do you know if you can upgrade your alcohol package when you are on the ship and get it prorated?

 

You sure can, I believe the only thing you can’t do it upgrade to the drinks & more package but classic to premium no problem. 

[MR_T]

4 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

The Casino bar on the Edge is now the Craft Social Bar on Apex with an expanded beer menu and even cocktails on tap.  The theater got a major upgrade with state of the art background screens. 

Our last cruise in January of 2020 was on the Edge and we booked a comparable week for next January in the same IV cabin.  We recently made it a B2B by swapping out our 5 day on the NCL Joy for an extra 5 on the Apex.

The new theatre is pretty amazing, it’s really nice what they can do with the different panels and designs 😊

[MR_T]

4 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

What does this remind you of?  🤔

Not sure I can say 😜

[verizon]

2 hours ago, Miaminice said:

Taormina - an absolute must!

Yes too bad it was raining today when I was there.

[SNJCruisers]

1 hour ago, MR_T said:

Not sure I can say 😜

The other day,  October 4th was national taco day. 🌮

[hcat]

5 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

The Casino bar on the Edge is now the Craft Social Bar on Apex with an expanded beer menu and even cocktails on tap.  The theater got a major upgrade with state of the art background screens. 

Our last cruise in January of 2020 was on the Edge and we booked a comparable week for next January in the same IV cabin.  We recently made it a B2B by swapping out our 5 day on the NCL Joy for an extra 5 on the Apex.

Sounds like these are good changes!

[SNJCruisers]

1 hour ago, hcat said:

Sounds like these are good changes!

The dinner at Eden changed as well.  It's more of a usual deal, with 8 apps,  9 entrees and 4 desserts to choose from.

[MR_T]

Hello from a windy retreat deck! 

 

Well, as you all know by now yesterday was a bit of a washout of a day, cloudy, foggy, cool & rainy... the sail into Messina was nice (early) but nice all the same. Was kind of cool sailing through the straight between Sicily & southern Spain as both sides woke up and could see more & more lights and activity the closer to Messina we got. 

 

The sail out was was a little different as we couldn’t see anything once we got out the actual port area as it was so foggy/misty! 

 

We were here so lucky the first  cruise regarding weather and really enjoyed everything, seems since we did the suite upgrade things are taking a turn for the worse... still, despite our issues we are trying to enjoy these last 3 days of our cruise and even though it’s a really windy & bumpy day on the seas we’ve got a good spot in the sun in a kind of wind sheltered area of deck 16! Plus we might be the crazy ones but we’ve got the whole section to ourselves which is nice 😊

[MR_T]

Last nights Dinner 

 

To be honest we wasn’t overly impressed with the luminae menu last night and after a bad day (lost one of our phones on the ship) we just didn’t fancy making to much of an effort so just went to the main dining room and have a nice quiet meal there. 

 

Also, and maybe it’s a reflection of our bad luck on this current cruise but the times we’ve been in luminae we’ve been given tables that just seem odd considering how quiet it was... plus one time there was an overly loud couple next to us, another time most of our meal there was someone FaceTiming someone (loudly)! 

 

As I said maybe things are seeming bigger issues than they really are but when things are going wrong everything seems to be going wrong! 

 

However we really are people that do try yo see the good things and make the best of everything so fingers crossed it starts with a reduction in the wind anytime soon 😂 we did both have small wins in the casino last night so that’s good 👍🏼 Not enough for a new iPhone but maybe a new case 😜 it’s a start right 😂 

 

Onwards & upwards as they say 🍸😎

[Miaminice]

14 minutes ago, MR_T said:

... another time most of our meal there was someone FaceTiming someone (loudly)! 

 

😥 unfortunately not too uncommon... Facetiming or watching/showing videos with sound at full volume. More and more people lack respect and common sense. Only three things are important to them: "me, myself and I".

 

I think of myself as a relatively peaceful person - but those are situation where I can´t shut up and kindly ask them to either stop or leave so other people can enjoy their meal.

 

Anyway... make the most of it and keep enjoying!

Edited October 7, 2021 by Miaminice

[Bo1953]

32 minutes ago, MR_T said:

Last nights Dinner 

 

To be honest we wasn’t overly impressed with the luminae menu last night and after a bad day (lost one of our phones on the ship) we just didn’t fancy making to much of an effort so just went to the main dining room and have a nice quiet meal there. 

 

Also, and maybe it’s a reflection of our bad luck on this current cruise but the times we’ve been in luminae we’ve been given tables that just seem odd considering how quiet it was... plus one time there was an overly loud couple next to us, another time most of our meal there was someone FaceTiming someone (loudly)! 

 

As I said maybe things are seeming bigger issues than they really are but when things are going wrong everything seems to be going wrong! 

 

However we really are people that do try yo see the good things and make the best of everything so fingers crossed it starts with a reduction in the wind anytime soon 😂 we did both have small wins in the casino last night so that’s good 👍🏼 Not enough for a new iPhone but maybe a new case 😜 it’s a start right 😂 

 

Onwards & upwards as they say 🍸😎

mr_t - I Am sure you have already notified The Retreat Manager to be on the look out for your missing phone, who in turn will notify other crew members about it as well...

 

As for the facetimers, that would cause a quick chat with the Maitre 'd to help resolve...

 

Hopefully the meal selection tonight will be better for you.

 

With a day or two left, it will turn up... or so I Am hopeful.

 

Otherwise let the Captain know you have to stay aboard for the next sailing (at no charge of course) until your phone is found...  😎

 

Keep your chin up and bon voyage

Edited October 7, 2021 by Bo1953

[hcat]

13 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

The dinner at Eden changed as well.  It's more of a usual deal, with 8 apps,  9 entrees and 4 desserts to choose from.

Def on our list next time!

Also glad it developed into a varied music venue on main floor  in lieu of the EDEN show..highly over rated!

 

[Gitte]

5 hours ago, MR_T said:

Last nights Dinner 

 

To be honest we wasn’t overly impressed with the luminae menu last night and after a bad day (lost one of our phones on the ship) we just didn’t fancy making to much of an effort so just went to the main dining room and have a nice quiet meal there. 

 

Also, and maybe it’s a reflection of our bad luck on this current cruise but the times we’ve been in luminae we’ve been given tables that just seem odd considering how quiet it was... plus one time there was an overly loud couple next to us, another time most of our meal there was someone FaceTiming someone (loudly)! 

 

As I said maybe things are seeming bigger issues than they really are but when things are going wrong everything seems to be going wrong! 

 

However we really are people that do try yo see the good things and make the best of everything so fingers crossed it starts with a reduction in the wind anytime soon 😂 we did both have small wins in the casino last night so that’s good 👍🏼 Not enough for a new iPhone but maybe a new case 😜 it’s a start right 😂 

 

Onwards & upwards as they say 🍸😎

Hello from the Apex too.

Yesterday we booked the tour in the 👣 of the Godfather. It was nice.

Is it not possible to located your phone with the app? I hope you find it.

It is a windy day today but lucky we found a good spot at the rooftop garden. Tonight we booked Fine Cut for dinner. Maybe we meet you on the ship. 😀

Gitte

[kwokpot]

7 hours ago, MR_T said:

after a bad day (lost one of our phones on the ship)

Sorry to hear this, hopefully it will turn up.  Definitely check with Lost and Found/Security.  

 

Helpful hint for the future: Create a sticker With your name and Cabin Number and place it on the rear of your phone, laptop, Ipad, E-reader, Water Bottle. A luggage tag with same info if you have a gym bag or tote that you carry around on the ship.