Nov 6 Apex B2B East-West Caribbean Cruise

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, countess5 said:

Nice to see that there are shows in Eden.

When we were onboard Edge in September all we had, Which was great, were singers. They had three acts that performed individually then at the end of the night they all came together to perform.

Looking forward to seeing the shows while we are on Apex in February.

 

Cheers! 

It sounds like the Eden in a variety of ways has improved greatly since arriving in the US. Hopefully, their enhancements rub off on the Edge as we were not impressed with either the restaurant or the entertainment in Eden back in August.

[mahdnc]

6 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

No, I think my DW said there were just 3 true production shows in the Eden and one in The Club later on. But there is a variety of live music offered on the other evenings in the Eden.

 

As far as the Belize tender goes, it’s been awhile since we’ve been here and I don’t remember if we tendered the last time we were here. It may also depend on the size of the ship as well, but the only 40 minute tender I can remember from previous Mexican cruises was in Cozumel when we would go on excursions on the mainland.

 

My understanding is that the port has always been a tendered port because of the water is shallow.

[Ken the cruiser]

 

We have arrived in Cozumel where if we wanted to we could freely roam around the port. But since we don’t shop and don’t have an excursion booked, we’re going to remain on the ship and continue to enjoy what she has to offer. 😎

 

 

[mahdnc]

On 11/7/2021 at 7:07 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

Now, to string this out just a little longer. We’ve sailed on 10 cruises with Oceania and loved eating dinner outside up at the Terrace Cafe. Nothing better than eating dinner while watching the moon overhead as we watch a distant port fade off in the distance in a quiet setting all by ourselves on a crowded cruise ship.
 

It just does get any better than that. Well, after eating dinner at one of the MDRs with folks sitting next to us on both sides, we decided to adjust our dining strategy and went upstairs to check out what the buffet was like at night with dinner being served from 6 to 9:30.
 

I’m not going to go into any more detail, but suffice it to say we’ll be eating all of our dinners now, except for the specialty restaurants we currently have booked, up at the Oceanview Cafe. They even have places to sit out of the weather where you can watch the stars while you eat. 😉

 

 

Forgive me if you have covered this already: does the Rooftop Garden Grill provide the same type of starry sky ambiance for you?

[mahdnc]

We are booked for an Apex Western Caribbean cruise in March--however your itinerary is different than ours which is scheduled to stop at Key West, Belize, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman.  I am just curious as to whether your itinerary, when you booked it, was eventually altered to the one that you are enjoying now.

[Ken the cruiser]

Question of the day. Anyone know what this is and what it’s used for?

 

 

Here’s a hint  

 

[mahdnc]

6 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Question of the day. Anyone know what this is and what it’s used for?

 

 

Here’s a hint  

 

A kennel, so I can bring my dog?

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, mahdnc said:

 

Forgive me if you have covered this already: does the Rooftop Garden Grill provide the same type of starry sky ambiance for you?

We weren’t impressed enough with the Rooftop Garden Grill menu to give it a try, let alone wonder up there in the evening to see if anyone else was eating there. But you can definitely see the stars depending on where you sit; although there are definitely no aft views from there. OTOH they usually have a movie playing most of the time. 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, mahdnc said:

We are booked for an Apex Western Caribbean cruise in March--however your itinerary is different than ours which is scheduled to stop at Key West, Belize, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman.  I am just curious as to whether your itinerary, when you booked it, was eventually altered to the one that you are enjoying now.

I believe we were originally supposed to go to Cayman Islands, but that disappeared from the itinerary awhile back. Not sure about Key West as we’ve had this cruise booked for awhile, but anything is possible. 

Edited November 17, 2021 by Ken the cruiser

[judebarsto]

3 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

My understanding is that the port has always been a tendered port because of the water is shallow.

The tender really only took 20 minutes for those on future sailings

[Ken the cruiser]

18 minutes ago, judebarsto said:

The tender really only took 20 minutes for those on future sailings

40 minutes did seem like a long time for that distance. Thanks for the update! 

[prish]

3 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I believe we were originally supposed to go to Cayman Islands, but that disappeared from the itinerary awhile back. Not sure about Key West as we’ve had this cruise booked for awhile, but anything is possible. 

Key West and Grand Cayman were both on our December 11 sailing, now replaced by an extra sea day and Nassau. Bummer, as we were really looking forward to GC. Hopefully they’ll allow cruise ships by March mahdnc…

 

1 hour ago, judebarsto said:

The tender really only took 20 minutes for those on future sailings

 

Thanks, that makes more sense, 40 minutes seemed excessive! 

[Ken the cruiser]

4 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Question of the day. Anyone know what this is and what it’s used for?

 

 

Here’s a hint  

 

Here’s another hint. Inside each of the containers, one on each side of the ship that we’ve been able to locate so far, there are 4 inflatable life boats (which are orange in the above picture), each with the capacity of 150 crew members, according to a staff officer we talked with in the hallway.

[mahdnc]

12 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Here’s another hint. Inside each of the containers, one on each side of the ship that we’ve been able to locate so far, there are 4 inflatable life boats (which are orange in the above picture), each with the capacity of 150 crew members, according to a staff officer we talked with in the hallway.

 

Special Retreat Lifeboats for suite-only passengers?

[CruisinMama2003]

33 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Here’s another hint. Inside each of the containers, one on each side of the ship that we’ve been able to locate so far, there are 4 inflatable life boats (which are orange in the above picture), each with the capacity of 150 crew members, according to a staff officer we talked with in the hallway.

Im probably waaay off here, but, from the pictures, it appears passengers can slide down into a life boat? Yikes! 

[Ken the cruiser]

11 minutes ago, CruisinMama2003 said:

Im probably waaay off here, but, from the pictures, it appears passengers can slide down into a life boat? Yikes! 

With their shoes off, of course. Don’t forget step 6. But don’t worry as I don’t want to cause any undue worry. It’s just the crew that will have the “fun” of sliding into the inflatable life boats if such a catastrophic occurrence would ever happen, which hopefully will never be the case. 

Edited November 17, 2021 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

It sure has turned out to be a pretty day in Cozumel! Not too hot and not too humid. But then again I’m on our balcony in the shade, so what do I know. 😎

 

 

Edited November 17, 2021 by Ken the cruiser

[little britain]

6 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

It sounds like the Eden in a variety of ways has improved greatly since arriving in the US. Hopefully, their enhancements rub off on the Edge as we were not impressed with either the restaurant or the entertainment in Eden back in August.

I hope your meals didn’t look like this! Fine dining?! 

[Ken the cruiser]

9 minutes ago, little britain said:

I hope your meals didn’t look like this! Fine dining?! 

They did not and I agree, they don’t look very appetizing. Just curious, when you were on your Apex cruise over in the Med, roughly how many passengers were on your cruise?

 

I take it the gnocchi was the first picture. What’s the second picture of?

Edited November 17, 2021 by Ken the cruiser

[DaKahuna]

6 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Question of the day. Anyone know what this is and what it’s used for?

 

It is an evacuation / abandon ship slide .. it is a way of getting people from the deck where it is located to the water level to get on the tenders.  

 

[Ken the cruiser]

9 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

It is an evacuation / abandon ship slide .. it is a way of getting people from the deck where it is located to the water level to get on the tenders.  

OK. I can see that as a possibility, especially if they weren’t able to get everyone off the ship through the normal tendering exits in the Destination Gateway areas on deck 2.

 

The passengers would line up in a calm and orderly fashion, taking their shoes off (step 6) before jumping into the slide (step 7) connected to one of the inflatable 150 passenger/crew life rafts. They would then walk calmly through to the other side where there would be a tender waiting for them to board. Makes sense. Hopefully, the seas will be calm that day; otherwise IMHO that last transfer may get a little tricky.

Edited November 17, 2021 by Ken the cruiser

[little britain]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

They did not and I agree, they don’t look very appetizing. Just curious, when you were on your Apex cruise over in the Med, roughly how many passengers were on your cruise?

 

I take it the gnocchi was the first picture. What’s the second picture of?

900 pax. 
I think it may have been the grouper…

[tiller]

20 minute tender ride sounds a lot better! 40 minutes in one of those boats is not my idea of fun. 

[Ken the cruiser]

Thursday, Nov 18, Sea day and Chic Night

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Here’s a tidbit of information we learned this evening. Did you know the crew up at the Oceanview Cafe that picks up your dirty dishes and cleans the tables are on a flat salary? In other words, none of the $$$ included in the daily gratuities you pay go towards paying their salary. 
 

So during those early days this summer when there weren’t a lot of passengers cruising, they were actually making more than their counterparts in Luminae, Blu, the MDRs and the SRs who receive most of their salary $$$ from The Pool based on ratings. Of course, now the shoe is on the other foot as more and more folks are starting to sail again and all those dining gratuity $$$ are starting to flow into The Pool again. We just thought that was an interesting tidbit of information we didn’t know before. 😎