Just off the Apex ask me anything.

[ilovetexas]

20 hours ago, acshelco said:

1. No covid announcements.

2. No missed ports you could explore all of them on your own.

3. All shows went as scheduled.

4. I was given a regular surgical mask at one of the restaurants but never saw them giving anyone a N95.

Which ports did the ship visit?  Were you Eastern or Western?

 

Thanks!

[red919]

What time was the earliest disembarkation upon returning to Port Everglades and how long did it take you to get to the airport and through security?

 

We're on the Edge in March and Delta just changed our flights so now the only direct flight leaves at 10:00am and I worry we won't make it even with self-disembark.  We also have Global Entry so wondering if that is offered as well.

 

Thanks in advance!

[acshelco]

52 minutes ago, ilovetexas said:

Which ports did the ship visit?  Were you Eastern or Western?

 

Thanks!

Puerto Plata, St. Thomas and St. Kitts

[kwokpot]

2 hours ago, red919 said:

We also have Global Entry so wondering if that is offered as well.

 

Global Entry has been rendered obsolete since they are started using Facial recognition for CBP reentry. All you do is go to one of the several Queue lines and step up to the Video Camera mounted on a pole. You look into the monitor, drop your mask, and in two seconds it will confirm your identity as a US Citizen and you can proceed. No need to show your passport. Best thing to ever happen at a cruiseport!

[7680]

Hello! We are on the Edge, Mar 6th. There are 6 of us. Should we book specialty restaurants now or do they offer better “deals” on board? I believe the Magic Carpet can only be booked on board? Would appreciate feedback, if you happen to know. Thanks so much!

[floridianny]

17 hours ago, acshelco said:

Very comfortable. My wife described them as firm but not hard

Thank you.  Can't wait to sail on Apex next year.  Appreciate all the info.

[floridianny]

On 2/5/2022 at 1:32 PM, Valentin53 said:

Can you give us more information about the "deal or not deal"

We played recently on the Silhouette.  You buy a card or set of 3 ahead of the game time, and a person is randomly picked by computer at the start. After that round a second person is picked to play another round. The game is done on a screen with the person choosing which cases  to open and a banker makes an offer just like on television.  You use the same game card for both games. People in audience open windows on the card that match the amount on cases opened.  My husband won $15 in casino money because of a few matches. Then after 2 rounds a third person is picked and they spin a wheel. There are different prizes with the biggest being a free cruise.  A woman won the free cruise when we played. I believe it was about $40-$49 (?) for the 3 cards.  

[jwlane]

10 hours ago, red919 said:

What time was the earliest disembarkation upon returning to Port Everglades and how long did it take you to get to the airport and through security?

Maybe 7:30 on earliest???  We walked off yesterday at about 8:35 and got to the airport before 9 ($20, taxi).  Spent less than 10 minutes going thru TSA.

Edited February 7, 2022 by jwlane

[nimiq]

Did you have the chance to try all 4 main dining rooms ? 
Had you made your dinning reservation before the cruise or on the cruise ? 
Did you have a drink package ? 
 

Thanks 

sea ya 

Eric

[KKB]

On 2/5/2022 at 7:22 PM, Jordanyaya1 said:

We are booked on Apex in SV. How did you like the room? 
 

 

We did 2 weeks in SV on Edge last summer & LOVED it. If I’m doing a balcony, SV is my 1st choice! (We find rooms r for sleep & shower…but a good deal on an SV & I’m in!)

[KKB]

3 minutes ago, nimiq said:

Did you have the chance to try all 4 main dining rooms ? 
Had you made your dinning reservation before the cruise or on the cruise ? 
Did you have a drink package ? 
 

Thanks 

sea ya 

Eric

We were on Edge last summer, 1/2 full.

Tried all 4–Cyprus & Normandy were our favs but no complaints. 
No issues getting reservations onboard.

DH is beer drinker & classic is fine. I like Sauvignon Blanc from Europe or NZ/Australia, so premium it was. Buy onboard—the bartender gets a cut. We never had a problem getting what we wanted!

[PAGA]

On 2/5/2022 at 11:56 AM, joetop2467 said:

How strict are they about the mask mandate indoors?

On Apex right now (2/5 sailing). 90% of dance floor at martini bar after dinner and ABBA dance party in The Club after late production show were not wearing masks tonight. Also many people at this morning’s trivia were not masked. Cruise director staff is absolutely not enforcing mask wearing. They’re dancing with them and hosting/emceeing  events right beside non-mask-wearers and there is no enforcement. I’m disappointed. 

[PAGA]

On 2/5/2022 at 1:44 PM, Honolulu Blue said:

 

A few of the usual questions:

 

1) Were there any COVID-related announcements?  Crew or passenger positive numbers or percentages?

2) Did you miss any ports?  If so, did they blame any missed ports on the virus?

3) Did all the shows go on as scheduled?

4) Did they provide masks?  How many?  What type (cloth, surgical, KN95, N95)?

Boarded 2/5, and we were handed a letter during embarkation noting that the prior cruise exceeded 1% positive rate and that all positive passengers & crew had been disembarked. 

[Honolulu Blue]

On 2/5/2022 at 1:44 PM, Honolulu Blue said:

1) Were there any COVID-related announcements?  Crew or passenger positive numbers or percentages?

 

On 2/5/2022 at 2:00 PM, acshelco said:

1. No covid announcements.

 

6 hours ago, PAGA said:

Boarded 2/5, and we were handed a letter during embarkation noting that the prior cruise exceeded 1% positive rate and that all positive passengers & crew had been disembarked. 

 

Thanks for sharing, PAGA.  There's a bit of a mystery to unravel here... if there were no announcements made on the previous cruise (as OP acshelco noted), one assumes there were few or no cases of note.  The letter implies that there were a few more than a few there.  Maybe, as I speculated in another thread, that letter is just a standard letter to cover Celebrity and may or may not reflect reality.  Or maybe there were a burst of cases discovered at the very last minute.  Or maybe they've made the decision to disclose only the absolute minimum like some other cruise lines.  I would hate to believe the latter is true, but whatever the truth is, it doesn't matter much anyway.  Have a great cruise!

[mfs2k]

1 hour ago, Honolulu Blue said:

if there were no announcements made on the previous cruise (as OP acshelco noted), one assumes there were few or no cases of note.  The letter implies that there were a few more than a few there. 

Maybe the OP didn’t hear the announcements. 

[followyourheart]

I was on this cruise and heard the announcements on the last 3 full days. Nothing regarding covid was mentioned. I have been wondering what the covid rate was after seeing someone in a full hazmat suit in the hallway while walking  to our deck 9 SV one evening. 

[red919]

18 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Global Entry has been rendered obsolete since they are started using Facial recognition for CBP reentry. All you do is go to one of the several Queue lines and step up to the Video Camera mounted on a pole. You look into the monitor, drop your mask, and in two seconds it will confirm your identity as a US Citizen and you can proceed. No need to show your passport. Best thing to ever happen at a cruiseport!

Excellent!! 

This is great news. Thanks so much. 😊

 

10 hours ago, jwlane said:

Maybe 7:30 on earliest???  We walked off yesterday at about 8:35 and got to the airport before 9 ($20, taxi).  Spent less than 10 minutes going thru TSA.

Excellent news as well!  

Thanks so much. 😊

[CruiseRQA]

22 hours ago, 7680 said:

Hello! We are on the Edge, Mar 6th. There are 6 of us. Should we book specialty restaurants now or do they offer better “deals” on board? I believe the Magic Carpet can only be booked on board? Would appreciate feedback, if you happen to know. Thanks so much!

I would book now.

We were on the Apex January 15 and both Eden and the steak restaurant were "sold out" early on.   We were able to get into the Rooftop Garden as a backup and I must say it was fantastic.  

[acshelco]

On 2/6/2022 at 10:12 AM, red919 said:

What time was the earliest disembarkation upon returning to Port Everglades and how long did it take you to get to the airport and through security?

 

We're on the Edge in March and Delta just changed our flights so now the only direct flight leaves at 10:00am and I worry we won't make it even with self-disembark.  We also have Global Entry so wondering if that is offered as well.

 

Thanks in advance!

If you took off your bags on your own it said to meet at Eden at 7:30. So maybe you could make it? Fort Lauderdale is not a big airport.

[acshelco]

On 2/6/2022 at 2:27 PM, 7680 said:

Hello! We are on the Edge, Mar 6th. There are 6 of us. Should we book specialty restaurants now or do they offer better “deals” on board? I believe the Magic Carpet can only be booked on board? Would appreciate feedback, if you happen to know. Thanks so much!

We only did the Fine Cut and it was the regular price of 55 per person. So if you see any discounts ahead of time I would grab them. Fine Cut was amazing by the way so good. Never went to magic carpet other than had some cocktails there during the day. 

[acshelco]

19 hours ago, nimiq said:

Did you have the chance to try all 4 main dining rooms ? 
Had you made your dinning reservation before the cruise or on the cruise ? 
Did you have a drink package ? 
 

Thanks 

sea ya 

Eric

Yes tried all 4 Tuscan was our favorite. Never made any reservations for the main dining rooms just showed up and there were always a ton of tables open. This might have been because we ate at 7 and not earlier. Had the regular drink package and upgraded to the premium when I found out my Manhattan's and Old Fashioned's were not covered by the standard. Highly recommend the martini bar for nicer cocktails I visibly winced when they shaked my manhattan and poured it over ice at the sunset bar haha  

[acshelco]

18 hours ago, PAGA said:

On Apex right now (2/5 sailing). 90% of dance floor at martini bar after dinner and ABBA dance party in The Club after late production show were not wearing masks tonight. Also many people at this morning’s trivia were not masked. Cruise director staff is absolutely not enforcing mask wearing. They’re dancing with them and hosting/emceeing  events right beside non-mask-wearers and there is no enforcement. I’m disappointed. 

That's interesting because I was dancing with my wife at the club and forgot to put my mask back up and one of the girls called me on it right away. Side note it sucks to dance with a mask man you get overheated in a hurry we were sucking back waters like crazy.

[acshelco]

10 hours ago, mfs2k said:

Maybe the OP didn’t hear the announcements. 

This could definitely be true. The Captain was extremely hard to hear and I could have missed it to be honest. 

[PAGA]

3 minutes ago, acshelco said:

That's interesting because I was dancing with my wife at the club and forgot to put my mask back up and one of the girls called me on it right away. Side note it sucks to dance with a mask man you get overheated in a hurry we were sucking back waters like crazy.

Interesting. Very different last night. Even saw a few people come to dance floor with mask on at ABBA party, but removed as soon as they saw the vast majority were not wearing one. Cruise Director staff was masked and dancing among passengers…Cruise Director Gioseppi (sp?) interacting and dancing unmasked (with microphone in hand as the event’s host). I have no explanation for it, and was very surprised after reading these boards the past few weeks prior to sailing and expecting mask enforcement. Daily printed schedules still say “masks required indoors including gym and dance floor.” There are 1500 on board per Cruise Director 1st night. A lot larger number than I’ve seen reported on these threads past few weeks. Mask compliance walking through ship during today’s sea day seemed pretty good…but pretty much everyone was outside on the pool deck. So we’ll see how tonight goes…

[jwlane]

11 hours ago, mfs2k said:

Maybe the OP didn’t hear the announcements. 

We never heard a word, also.