Live Review Apex 1/8/2022 - 1/15/2022 Virtual Cruise Plenty of Pictures.

[BennyBrun]

7 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Amazing.  I would have had what I had and added the filet and mini short rib wellington.  Oh well.  At fine cuts on our first night I had the lobster tail and lobster ravioli and our server insisted I make it a surf n turf, so I added the 6 oz filet.  I should have been more aggressive at Eden...kicking myself now, as usual hind sight is 20/20.

Once again, it was a pleasure meeting you and I'll get back to you with our feedback about the Mardi Gras.

That just gives you a reason to come back!  I can’t wait to hear all about the Mardi Gras!  Safe travel home and enjoy your next cruise!

[mac_tlc]

7 hours ago, KKB said:

BennyBrun (& nod to SNJCruisers supporting cast), SO enjoyed this TR!

We cruised the Edge for 2 weeks last summer & hopefully will be on the Apex in March.

I notice your CD was on the Edge last summer--and I am wondering if the 4 main show vocalists came along with her. In looking at your show photos, I SWEAR it is the same 4. Curious if mac_tlc thinks the same (or mac_tlc you will have to see for yourself soon!)

Our Edge cruises were very special for a variety of reasons but I may be underestimating Celebrity & E-class. AMAZING!

 Did notice that Lauren was the CD on Apex. We are scheduled for 1/29. A little apprehensive but I think we will go, still have a week+ to decide. If it’s the same vocalists, they were great. Rockumentary looks fabulous! 
 

Hope Mom is doing well……..

 

mac_tlc

[BennyBrun]

7 hours ago, KKB said:

BennyBrun (& nod to SNJCruisers supporting cast), SO enjoyed this TR!

We cruised the Edge for 2 weeks last summer & hopefully will be on the Apex in March.

I notice your CD was on the Edge last summer--and I am wondering if the 4 main show vocalists came along with her. In looking at your show photos, I SWEAR it is the same 4. Curious if mac_tlc thinks the same (or mac_tlc you will have to see for yourself soon!)

Our Edge cruises were very special for a variety of reasons but I may be underestimating Celebrity & E-class. AMAZING!

Thank you so much and for coming along!  Lauren was fantastic.  We never had a full moment!  The performers were great.  If SNJCRUISER didn’t say anything about the Eden performances we would not know that it was not the same.

[countess5]

Benny

 

Ditto’s on all the thank you’s! 

 

We sail Apex in February on a B2B, part of our 49 days at sea tour! 😂

Was thinking about doing a Live report from the three ships we will be on, but after following you I am going to bail! No way could I keep up with your standards!! 

Safe trip home!

 

Cheers! 

[mac_tlc]

@BennyBrun and @SNJCruisers, thanks so much for the great trip report. If this doesn’t make someone want to experience E-class, nothing will. We sail in two weeks and, if we go, will probably do a live thread, although it will pale in comparison. At least I won’t have to add any pictures——-the entire ship is here!!!

 

Thanks again,

 

mac_tlc

 

 

[BennyBrun]

1 hour ago, vickykay said:

Benny,

As others have said, thank you so much for the amazing review and for taking the time to answer all our questions.  This review was outstanding and has made us truly excited about our upcoming Apex cruise.  So sad to see it end.  When is your next cruise , ship( want to follow that one as well)?

 

I hope you travel home safely before the snow storm hits.

Thank you so much!  I am sure you will have a great cruise!  The ship is amazing with lots to explore and places to relax!  Our next cruise will be in two weeks on the Oasis of the Sea.  My first time on Oasis of the Sea not my first time on an Oasis class ship.  If everything goes well we will be onboard on 1/30.  I will be doing a B2B so it will be a looooooooooong live review!  Please come along and join the virtual cruise.

[BennyBrun]

1 hour ago, lori-annk said:

Thank you for this awesome review! We will definitely be trying Eden, looks amazing!! I’d it the same menu all the time?

Thank you so much!  It is the same menu so I think if you really want to try everything you will need two visits!

[Guindalf]

As your adventure ends, so ours begins. In the hotel now and boarding today to spend the next week enjoying what you’ve been posting!

 

I think we’ll have more passengers than your sailing. A lot of guests from cancelled NCL and Royal cruises have been booking last minute. I’m sure there’s been a lot of cancellation too. We’ll know in a few short hours.

 

The only thing I’ve heard that I hope is wrong is that the Retreat and Luminae are always crowded and the rest of the ship is empty. We shall see. 

[BennyBrun]

3 hours ago, little britain said:

How many positive cases this week?

Agree Rockumentary is one of the best shows at sea. We won’t bother going to see the Tree one again. 

From what I heard from the captain’s announcement ( again it is hard to hear and understand him so he might have updated again) but on Wednesday we hit 1% so about 21 people guest and crew with 1 person that tested positive.  We did not hear anything else afterwards and we made all the port of calls and all entertainment went on as scheduled except the performances were altered at Eden.

[BennyBrun]

7 minutes ago, countess5 said:

Benny

 

Ditto’s on all the thank you’s! 

 

We sail Apex in February on a B2B, part of our 49 days at sea tour! 😂

Was thinking about doing a Live report from the three ships we will be on, but after following you I am going to bail! No way could I keep up with your standards!! 

Safe trip home!

 

Cheers! 

OMG… thank you so much!  You should though because it would be interesting to see it from someone else’s perspective.  It is such an amazing trip for us and very different than the M Class.  Safe travels and enjoy your 49 days at sea!

[BennyBrun]

6 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

@BennyBrun and @SNJCruisers, thanks so much for the great trip report. If this doesn’t make someone want to experience E-class, nothing will. We sail in two weeks and, if we go, will probably do a live thread, although it will pale in comparison. At least I won’t have to add any pictures——-the entire ship is here!!!

 

Thanks again,

 

mac_tlc

 

 

Thank you so much!  I am excited for you and can’t wait to read all about it!!  I will be on the Oasis of the Sea and I can’t wait to sail along with you on the APEX while I am on the Oasis.

[mac_tlc]

1 minute ago, Guindalf said:

As your adventure ends, so ours begins. In the hotel now and boarding today to spend the next week enjoying what you’ve been posting!

 

I think we’ll have more passengers than your sailing. A lot of guests from cancelled NCL and Royal cruises have been booking last minute. I’m sure there’s been a lot of cancellation too. We’ll know in a few short hours.

 

The only thing I’ve heard that I hope is wrong is that the Retreat and Luminae are always crowded and the rest of the ship is empty. We shall see. 

Interested in what you experience in Retreat and Luminae. We sailed the Edge in July and October in a SS. Retreat lounge was never crowded, Retreat pool and bar area were “populated”, not crazy crowded. Luminae was more crowded. We usually ate at 6 and sometimes were in the middle two-top in the row of three along the window. We were asking for a particular waiter and that may have contributed to it. 
 

mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

Just now, BennyBrun said:

Thank you so much!  I am excited for you and can’t wait to read all about it!!  I will be on the Oasis of the Sea and I can’t wait to sail along with you on the APEX while I am on the Oasis.

We will be on Oasis in May and September once it moves to NJ! Don’t miss Aqua80, it’s the best aqua show on the fleet.

 

mac_tlc

[BennyBrun]

5 minutes ago, Guindalf said:

As your adventure ends, so ours begins. In the hotel now and boarding today to spend the next week enjoying what you’ve been posting!

 

I think we’ll have more passengers than your sailing. A lot of guests from cancelled NCL and Royal cruises have been booking last minute. I’m sure there’s been a lot of cancellation too. We’ll know in a few short hours.

 

The only thing I’ve heard that I hope is wrong is that the Retreat and Luminae are always crowded and the rest of the ship is empty. We shall see. 

You will love it!  Enjoy yourself.  Please let us know what you think and the guest count on Sunday ( last minute cancellations will alter the count of the number of people onboard today). When I say crowded, I don’t mean people on top of each other, but compared to MDR it was crowded but again every cruise is different so please enjoy yourself and have a great time!

[BennyBrun]

2 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

We will be on Oasis in May and September once it moves to NJ! Don’t miss Aqua80, it’s the best aqua show on the fleet.

 

mac_tlc

I can’t wait!  I know experiences might change so I am going onboard like a first time cruiser with no expectations!

[Guindalf]

1 minute ago, BennyBrun said:

You will love it!  Enjoy yourself.  Please let us know what you think and the guest count on Sunday ( last minute cancellations will alter the count of the number of people onboard today). When I say crowded, I don’t mean people on top of each other, but compared to MDR it was crowded but again every cruise is different so please enjoy yourself and have a great time!

Oh we plan to take full advantage of the situation! It’s been a long road of do we-don’t we, and after finally deciding do-we, here we go! Negative tests in hand, we will soon head for the terminal. 

[BennyBrun]

Day 8

 

Departure Day

[Retired Cruiser2015]

Fantastic post!  Thank you for all the info.  We haven’t cruised in two years and we’re doing thr 3/yr until COVID.  I miss it so much.  Your posts made me feel like I was on the ship.  I am booked on the Silhouette for Feb14… After following your post I am more encouraged and may choose not to cancel.  One question: I am Canadian, when and where do I get my PCR test before disembarkation?

[HMR74]

Beautiful Morning/sunrise at Port Everglades. On a beautiful ship.

[vickykay]

Guindalf,

 

we are on the same itinerary on the 29th ( hopefully). If you can, can you let us know if only Celebrity excursions for St.Thomas and St. Kitts?  Someone had posted photos a few weeks ago of approved cabs on St. Kitts but things may have changed. Thanks and have a wonderful cruise.

 

Vicky

[BennyBrun]

56 minutes ago, Retired Cruiser2015 said:

Fantastic post!  Thank you for all the info.  We haven’t cruised in two years and we’re doing thr 3/yr until COVID.  I miss it so much.  Your posts made me feel like I was on the ship.  I am booked on the Silhouette for Feb14… After following your post I am more encouraged and may choose not to cancel.  One question: I am Canadian, when and where do I get my PCR test before disembarkation?

First of all I like to applaud the Canadians that jumped through all the hoops to make it on to the cruise!  That is some requirement.  If I were you, I would pack a few rapid tests and test yourself onboard the night before you disembark.  Then make an appointment at the FLL airport for the official test the day of your departure.  It will be pricier but most convenient unless Celebrity is still offering testing at the terminal for Canadians.  But do test yourself the night before so if it’s positive you can let Celebrity know and they can assist you while you are onboard.  Once your are off the ship the assistance is not as great as if you were onboard.

[BennyBrun]

Day 8

 

Quick breakfast 

[BennyBrun]

Day 8 Departure Day

 

 

[BennyBrun]

Day 5

 

So we hit a snag during the debarkation.  The stopped letting people off the ship.  Don’t know why but they let us use the side where the suite guests are getting off and we waited there for 10 minutes and then they let the suite side off (a few passengers us included) and then they stopped the line all together.  We did not see anybody else behind us after to got into the terminal.  After we got on the Uber and drove pass by the exit no one was coming out!  Strange!

[BennyBrun]

Day 8

 

So there is definitely one person / cabin that was  in quarantine.  There is a van along with a check point set up to whisk them away.  The driver is in full PPE.