Just off the Apex ask me anything.

[mac_tlc]

12 hours ago, mfs2k said:

Maybe the OP didn’t hear the announcements. 

We were on the 1/29 sailing and heard no Covid announcements. What a difference a week makes vis a vis mask enforcement. I will say that our cruise director, Lauren, left for vacation after our sailing. New cruise director this week. If true, their conduct is unacceptable and should be told to someone. 
 

mac_tlc

Edited February 8, 2022 by mac_tlc

[PAGA]

4 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

We were on the 1/29 sailing and heard no Covid announcements. What a difference a week makes vis a vis mask enforcement. I will say that our cruise director, Lauren, left for vacation after our sailing. New cruise director this week. If true, their conduct is unacceptable and should be told to someone. 
 

mac_tlc

Interesting. As far as I heard at the shows/activities,  Giseppi (sp?) did not mention 2/5 was his first/return on Apex. If he is new this week, that explains the difference in attitude toward mask enforcement. It’s not acceptable, but at least gives some explanation. 
We did not attend silent disco in Eden tonight or late night disco in The Club, but absolutely no one was dancing in martini bar after dinner or after Caravan performance. So can’t update on whether the dance floor situation was any different tonight. 
Theater during 9:30 headliner singer was about 75% masked even though a pre-show announcement was made noting they’re required. (The 6 people in front of us put theirs on after the announcement, and stated “they had no idea”)
Restaurant hostess did not request couple who approached the podium just after us to put their masks on either…so it’s not just entertainment staff who aren’t enforcing. 
I will also say, public announcements/10am captain report/etc are very difficult to hear on this ship. Absolutely cannot hear in stateroom and couldn’t hear outdoors at Sunset Bar departing Key West yesterday either. 

[mac_tlc]

7 hours ago, PAGA said:

Interesting. As far as I heard at the shows/activities,  Giseppi (sp?) did not mention 2/5 was his first/return on Apex. If he is new this week, that explains the difference in attitude toward mask enforcement. It’s not acceptable, but at least gives some explanation. 
We did not attend silent disco in Eden tonight or late night disco in The Club, but absolutely no one was dancing in martini bar after dinner or after Caravan performance. So can’t update on whether the dance floor situation was any different tonight. 
Theater during 9:30 headliner singer was about 75% masked even though a pre-show announcement was made noting they’re required. (The 6 people in front of us put theirs on after the announcement, and stated “they had no idea”)
Restaurant hostess did not request couple who approached the podium just after us to put their masks on either…so it’s not just entertainment staff who aren’t enforcing. 
I will also say, public announcements/10am captain report/etc are very difficult to hear on this ship. Absolutely cannot hear in stateroom and couldn’t hear outdoors at Sunset Bar departing Key West yesterday either. 

I agree on the announcements. Between the captains accent and his generally low  volume speaking, its very hard to hear and understand, especially if you are where other people are talking. 
 

Our CD was Lauren and the Activity Manager was Alexa. 
 

mac_tlc

[followyourheart]

I agree the captain’s 10am announcements were almost impossible to understand due to extremely low volume and accent.  I missed many while having breakfast at the outdoor buffet eating area. The last 3 days I really wanted to hear if there was any covid update numbers, especially after passing by a person dressed in hazmat gear in my hallway. I had to move myself indoors and stand directly under a speaker where no one was around. The 3 announcements I heard were only a minute or 2 in duration and spoke only of our location and the weather. 

[rockraiders]

What time did staterooms open on embarkation? Thanks

[acshelco]

18 hours ago, PAGA said:

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…

We had Lauren and it was her last week on the ship. Maybe with a change in directors came a change in enforcement?

[acshelco]

22 minutes ago, rockraiders said:

What time did staterooms open on embarkation? Thanks

We went to ours right after we boarded at 12 and dropped off our bags and there was a note that said please comeback later we are not quite done your room yet. But were able to drop off our bags and grab our cruise cards. 

[mfs2k]

I’m willing to bet that mask mandates will be done everywhere by March 15. Those who choose to wear a mask, will 

I also predict vaccination  mandates will continue through 2022 and rapid tests will be done as part of the boarding process. 
 

let me know how I did in 11 months. 

[Mimi04]

Hi, thanks for posting on this ship. We are due to sail in 3 weeks on the Apex. Cruise booked back in 2019!

We are on the fence concerning COVID onboard, what the company is doing to keep everyone safe, how people onboard are being safe  and do all follow protocol if there are any.(In Canada we are overly masking-distancing-vaxxing vs USA, I think). I REALLY want to cruise. So…

1- How safe did you feel onboard?

2- PCR easy to obtain for our flight back?

Thanks!

[acshelco]

18 hours ago, Mimi04 said:

Hi, thanks for posting on this ship. We are due to sail in 3 weeks on the Apex. Cruise booked back in 2019!

We are on the fence concerning COVID onboard, what the company is doing to keep everyone safe, how people onboard are being safe  and do all follow protocol if there are any.(In Canada we are overly masking-distancing-vaxxing vs USA, I think). I REALLY want to cruise. So…

1- How safe did you feel onboard?

2- PCR easy to obtain for our flight back?

Thanks!

Felt very safe on board. You could easily avoid people around elevators and higher traffic areas because there were so few passengers. PCR was simple just go to customer service and tell them you need one to return to Canada and they will set it all up for you. 

[Cruisernewbie44]

what brand (or scent) are the bath toiletries?

[Mimi04]

4 hours ago, acshelco said:

Felt very safe on board. You could easily avoid people around elevators and higher traffic areas because there were so few passengers. PCR was simple just go to customer service and tell them you need one to return to Canada and they will set it all up for you. 

Thanks for the response. Do they randomly test onboard or just if you have symptoms (that you declare)….we are worried of ‘getting stuck’ in USA with a positive test before return. We’ve been to an all inclusive in January 2022 and it seemed to be easy to just stay outside and social distance. I just don’t want to be stuck in an inside cabin in isolation!

[Mimi04]

On 2/6/2022 at 11:46 PM, 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. 

I am sorry but this is not at all encouraging! I can understand if you are a USA a citizen and after cruise you just disembark….but we have to fly home! Triple vaxxed and still not decided if we should cruise in 3 weeks!

[hrhdhd]

13 minutes ago, Mimi04 said:

I am sorry but this is not at all encouraging! I can understand if you are a USA a citizen and after cruise you just disembark….but we have to fly home! Triple vaxxed and still not decided if we should cruise in 3 weeks!

You should note the change in mask requirements posted on Celebrity's web site today. For a cruise in three weeks, no masks required except in casino and theater.

[Mimi04]

11 hours ago, hrhdhd said:

You should note the change in mask requirements posted on Celebrity's web site today. For a cruise in three weeks, no masks required except in casino and theater.

I am speechless. Thank you for the heads up. Am I overly cautious by saying that this is premature and irresponsable?

[UnMe4ever2gether]

Is there Friday night Sabbath Services?

[hrhdhd]

31 minutes ago, Mimi04 said:

I am speechless. Thank you for the heads up. Am I overly cautious by saying that this is premature and irresponsable?

IMO, yes.

[HALrunner]

Is there liquid hand soap in your cabin's bathroom or is it bar soap? 

[joetop2467]

We were on the Apex in October and it was bar soap. I think that’s disgusting which is why I went to Dollar Tree yesterday and bought a $1 bottle of Dial liquid hand soap for our cruise next week.

[mac_tlc]

1 hour ago, HALrunner said:

Is there liquid hand soap in your cabin's bathroom or is it bar soap? 

In our SS, it was a bar of soap. They also provided two small bottles of hand sanitizer. 

 

mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

1 hour ago, UnMe4ever2gether said:

Is there Friday night Sabbath Services?

I just took a look at the daily planner for 2/4/22 (1/29 sailing) and I did not see any scheduled services.  

 

mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

1 hour ago, Mimi04 said:

I am speechless. Thank you for the heads up. Am I overly cautious by saying that this is premature and irresponsable?

I think your level of risk tolerance is right for you. It's not overly cautious. It is the right level of caution for you. And that is ok. No one knows your circumstances better than you. 

 

mac_tlc

[acshelco]

14 hours ago, Mimi04 said:

Thanks for the response. Do they randomly test onboard or just if you have symptoms (that you declare)….we are worried of ‘getting stuck’ in USA with a positive test before return. We’ve been to an all inclusive in January 2022 and it seemed to be easy to just stay outside and social distance. I just don’t want to be stuck in an inside cabin in isolation!

No random tests you have to tell them you have symptoms then they will test you. I understand the concern we were that way too. I bought extra covid insurance from manulife that pays for your hotel and food if you have to quarantine for 11 days but it doesn't pay for missed work. 

[kwokpot]

1 hour ago, joetop2467 said:

We were on the Apex in October and it was bar soap. I think that’s disgusting which is why I went to Dollar Tree yesterday and bought a $1 bottle of Dial liquid hand soap for our cruise next week.

Why did you think that's disgusting? It's a new bar of soap for your personal bathroom use, not a shared bar you're taking to public rest rooms. I guess you're not old enough to remember before the Softsoap brand in the '80s liquid hand soap for lavatory use was only in public restrooms (remember that powdery gritty hand soap?). Bar soap is what 99.99% of households used at their bathroom sinks.

Edited February 10, 2022 by kwokpot

[Denny01]

All this talk on soap bars and stuff? Most hotels I go to have new bars, which is kind of the norm. Disgusting?? I remember a poster said they'd never use ship's laundry because their clothes were mixed up with other peoples' and they found that 'disgusting'......I kind of mentioned then they shouldn't climb into the sheets on their cruise beds or use the cruise ship towels, or Ever go to any hotel because......

 

But let's get back to what the OP titled this: Ask me anything......OK, what is the point of life?? Why do the Brits drive on the wrong side of the road??? Why am I spending waaaay too much time on this forum????...Oh I can answer that one: it drives my wife nuts!!

 

den

Edited February 10, 2022 by Denny01