Apex Review, 1/28 - 2/4 Just got off this past Saturday

[Dave Judy]

We just got off the Apex on Saturday, jumped in our car and drove 1,000 miles home. This was our third trip on the Apex, our first being in October, 2021 on the inaugural WBTA - where Celebrity added Many “Bells and Whistles” for their triumphant entry into the U.S. cruise market. Nothing can ever compare to that nearly perfect journey… Below is our subjective review of this latest Apex cruise. 

Ship: The Apex is a new and grand ship with beauty and surprises around every corner. Everything still sparkles. We are moderate spenders, and in the past, had IV staterooms on the higher decks - the size of which we enjoyed.  This time, we went with a cheaper Ocean View room at the very bow of the ship; room 8101.  Dimensions were nearly 8’ x ‘30, with the ceiling slowly tapering to a huge 6’ oval window looking out over the bow. The room size was amazing and very comfortable.  One of the biggest negatives of our cruise was that there was an, unknown to us, outside crew deck lounge area hidden 2 stories down.  Unfortunately, a handful of rude crew would be talking and yelling late into the night - the last evening at 2:00 am. 
 

Food: In short, yes it has changed quite a bit, even since our Baltic cruise on Apex last Summer. 

 

1.  There are no longer  “desirable” cuts of meat (Tenderloin, Strip steak, Prime Rib) available in the Four main dining rooms.  The closest I got was Filet en Croute in Normandy.  Throughout the main dining rooms, there are all kinds of combinations of choices, but many didn’t sound appealing or when ordered tasted all that special.  Yes, they have Lobster night and really do charge $16.95  for the second tail.  Of course, I ordered two meals, one being lobster and gave that tail to my wife. She ate half and gave me the rest - it really wasn’t all that special (we save our lobster mania for our trips to Maine). Kudos to all of the serving staff, their hard work and friendly demeanor was easy to notice, but dinners dragged between courses due to what I believe was fewer kitchen and prep staff. 

 

2.  Oceanview Cafe is still excellent for breakfast!  I have noticed fewer choices that I like at lunch compared to the past, but was always able to find plenty to fill me up.  The big cutbacks at dinner in OV are very noticeable !  Because of the slow service and lack of choices in MDRooms, we chose to eat dinner twice at OV.  It’s fair to say that less than a quarter of the stations were open and with very lacking choices - we are not critical or fussy eaters.  The Pasta Bar was open, thank goodness.  We would have had a third dinner, but walked through and saw the Pasta Bar was closed.  There were easily 100 diners each time we were there.  Celebrity really needs to recalibrate this venue to serve as a viable alternative. 
 

Ports: Old San Juan, Tortola, Basseterre/Nevis/St. Kitts

 

1.  We love Old San Juan, but the 3:30pm port arrival and 4:00pm all ashore left us scrambling to get to Castillo del Morro before the 5:00 pm closing and 6:00 sunset.  We understand the long journey from Ft. Lauderdale, but wish there was another way to get more available daytime in this beautiful port. 
 

2.  Tortola - we missed out on this port last year during Omicron and were excited to make it. Our afternoon Celebrity excursion to The Baths on Virgin Gorda was one of the highlights of the trip. 
 

3.  B/N/StK - were here on a previous cruise and enjoyed our excursion to the Brimstone Hill Fortress, otherwise not a very exciting port. Wish the dates were flipped with Old San Juan. 
 

Entertainment: Yes, the Theater is state of the art, the back screen is amazing and we did enjoy the three stage productions. We had seen them before, but really appreciate all the efforts that go into making these shows happen. The casts were changing (one rotating off after five months) and you could feel the catharsis after their final act… BTW, Rockumentary is an amazing Rock celebration, but it was loud!  Had this Baby Boomer wishing he had hearing aids that could be turned off. 
 

Our entertainment highlight was Guitarist Charlie from Wales.  He did simple 45 minute sets in the lesser venues, our favorite being in Eden. He was a one man show with his guitar and harmonica playing everything from Old English folk songs to Sinatra, Dylan, and Johnny Cash. Highly talented, he was all alone on his small stage and gave 100% on every performance.  He was our favorite and hope to see him for years to come. 
 

Passengers:  Cruising is back and the ship was packed.  We cruised nearly ten times with Celebrity and Disney cruise lines during COVID and got spoiled with 30- 40% occupancy rates… Still can’t get a good answer on size for this cruise, thinking it was at least 75% or higher.  You could still get a seat in OV or theater if reasonable in your expectations,  but again, there were problems with the 4 main dining rooms.  We had “Anytime Dining”  and the Reservation system did not appear to work (if you tried to use the app), sometimes longer waits, even if we just went to a different dining room.  There were clearly tables available, I believe that Celebrity is still trying to figure out staffing ratios. 
 

Negatives:

 

1. COVID protocols have changed. Not as much attempt to sanitize, limit elevator capacity, or encourage masking in tight places    For American society (us included) COVID “no longer exists” as we are learning to live with each mutation. We are Vaxxed to the Max and my wife tested positive in her room the day of departure after a seven night cruise (don’t tell me it was the flight down - we drove our car). We get it, we took the risk and have both had COVID twice before.  Frankly, I’m glad it wasn’t Norovirus - Now there’s a tough one. 
 

2.  Previously mentioned the outdoor crew lounge area below room 8101.  Yes, we called security and even met with hotel manager, even got compensation.  It took us a few days to even figure it out as the area is below us and we couldn’t see the noisemakers.  It just leaves a really bad taste that a few callous and rude staff ruin it for passengers like us who take pains not to make noise or disturb our passenger neighbors.  Even with our preemptive work, someone woke me up at 2:00 am our last night. 
 

Positives:

 

1.  Hey, it was a cruise !  We got away from the Cold Winter and apparently a Polar Vortex. 
 

2.  The sky, the ocean, the palm trees in port - all beautiful.  I have a special place outside of the theater on deck 5 where I spent hours watching the flying fish. Something magical about that. 
 

3.  Our large Oceanview Stateroom, loved the big shower with the curved glass door - and our Room Steward, Jarot who really took care of us. 
 

4.  While the food wasn’t perfect, I still never had to cook!
 

5.  Guitarist Charlie !  
 

[didicruiser]

Thank you!

 

[CruisinBanka]

Thanks for taking the time to review your cruise. Love your positive attitude even though food was below par and you had to deal with a noisy cabin. Seems like the food downgrade is a common subject as of late and Celebrity will hear the noise. 

[britestar]

Thank you for your review.

[Dave Judy]

And thank you all for the responses.  We are Go Go retirees trying to pack in lots of travel on sea and on land.  We spend modestly and our expectations are always low key.  As former school administrators, we always try to focus on the positive and deal with problems in a deliberate way. 

[mpdog42]

6 hours ago, Dave Judy said:

We just got off the Apex on Saturday, jumped in our car and drove 1,000 miles home. This was our third trip on the Apex, our first being in October, 2021 on the inaugural WBTA - where Celebrity added Many “Bells and Whistles” for their triumphant entry into the U.S. cruise market. Nothing can ever compare to that nearly perfect journey… Below is our subjective review of this latest Apex cruise. 

Ship: The Apex is a new and grand ship with beauty and surprises around every corner. Everything still sparkles. We are moderate spenders, and in the past, had IV staterooms on the higher decks - the size of which we enjoyed.  This time, we went with a cheaper Ocean View room at the very bow of the ship; room 8101.  Dimensions were nearly 8’ x ‘30, with the ceiling slowly tapering to a huge 6’ oval window looking out over the bow. The room size was amazing and very comfortable.  One of the biggest negatives of our cruise was that there was an, unknown to us, outside crew deck lounge area hidden 2 stories down.  Unfortunately, a handful of rude crew would be talking and yelling late into the night - the last evening at 2:00 am. 
 

Food: In short, yes it has changed quite a bit, even since our Baltic cruise on Apex last Summer. 

 

1.  There are no longer  “desirable” cuts of meat (Tenderloin, Strip steak, Prime Rib) available in the Four main dining rooms.  The closest I got was Filet en Croute in Normandy.  Throughout the main dining rooms, there are all kinds of combinations of choices, but many didn’t sound appealing or when ordered tasted all that special.  Yes, they have Lobster night and really do charge $16.95  for the second tail.  Of course, I ordered two meals, one being lobster and gave that tail to my wife. She ate half and gave me the rest - it really wasn’t all that special (we save our lobster mania for our trips to Maine). Kudos to all of the serving staff, their hard work and friendly demeanor was easy to notice, but dinners dragged between courses due to what I believe was fewer kitchen and prep staff. 

 

2.  Oceanview Cafe is still excellent for breakfast!  I have noticed fewer choices that I like at lunch compared to the past, but was always able to find plenty to fill me up.  The big cutbacks at dinner in OV are very noticeable !  Because of the slow service and lack of choices in MDRooms, we chose to eat dinner twice at OV.  It’s fair to say that less than a quarter of the stations were open and with very lacking choices - we are not critical or fussy eaters.  The Pasta Bar was open, thank goodness.  We would have had a third dinner, but walked through and saw the Pasta Bar was closed.  There were easily 100 diners each time we were there.  Celebrity really needs to recalibrate this venue to serve as a viable alternative. 
 

Ports: Old San Juan, Tortola, Basseterre/Nevis/St. Kitts

 

1.  We love Old San Juan, but the 3:30pm port arrival and 4:00pm all ashore left us scrambling to get to Castillo del Morro before the 5:00 pm closing and 6:00 sunset.  We understand the long journey from Ft. Lauderdale, but wish there was another way to get more available daytime in this beautiful port. 
 

2.  Tortola - we missed out on this port last year during Omicron and were excited to make it. Our afternoon Celebrity excursion to The Baths on Virgin Gorda was one of the highlights of the trip. 
 

3.  B/N/StK - were here on a previous cruise and enjoyed our excursion to the Brimstone Hill Fortress, otherwise not a very exciting port. Wish the dates were flipped with Old San Juan. 
 

Entertainment: Yes, the Theater is state of the art, the back screen is amazing and we did enjoy the three stage productions. We had seen them before, but really appreciate all the efforts that go into making these shows happen. The casts were changing (one rotating off after five months) and you could feel the catharsis after their final act… BTW, Rockumentary is an amazing Rock celebration, but it was loud!  Had this Baby Boomer wishing he had hearing aids that could be turned off. 
 

Our entertainment highlight was Guitarist Charlie from Wales.  He did simple 45 minute sets in the lesser venues, our favorite being in Eden. He was a one man show with his guitar and harmonica playing everything from Old English folk songs to Sinatra, Dylan, and Johnny Cash. Highly talented, he was all alone on his small stage and gave 100% on every performance.  He was our favorite and hope to see him for years to come. 
 

Passengers:  Cruising is back and the ship was packed.  We cruised nearly ten times with Celebrity and Disney cruise lines during COVID and got spoiled with 30- 40% occupancy rates… Still can’t get a good answer on size for this cruise, thinking it was at least 75% or higher.  You could still get a seat in OV or theater if reasonable in your expectations,  but again, there were problems with the 4 main dining rooms.  We had “Anytime Dining”  and the Reservation system did not appear to work (if you tried to use the app), sometimes longer waits, even if we just went to a different dining room.  There were clearly tables available, I believe that Celebrity is still trying to figure out staffing ratios. 
 

Negatives:

 

1. COVID protocols have changed. Not as much attempt to sanitize, limit elevator capacity, or encourage masking in tight places    For American society (us included) COVID “no longer exists” as we are learning to live with each mutation. We are Vaxxed to the Max and my wife tested positive in her room the day of departure after a seven night cruise (don’t tell me it was the flight down - we drove our car). We get it, we took the risk and have both had COVID twice before.  Frankly, I’m glad it wasn’t Norovirus - Now there’s a tough one. 
 

2.  Previously mentioned the outdoor crew lounge area below room 8101.  Yes, we called security and even met with hotel manager, even got compensation.  It took us a few days to even figure it out as the area is below us and we couldn’t see the noisemakers.  It just leaves a really bad taste that a few callous and rude staff ruin it for passengers like us who take pains not to make noise or disturb our passenger neighbors.  Even with our preemptive work, someone woke me up at 2:00 am our last night. 
 

Positives:

 

1.  Hey, it was a cruise !  We got away from the Cold Winter and apparently a Polar Vortex. 
 

2.  The sky, the ocean, the palm trees in port - all beautiful.  I have a special place outside of the theater on deck 5 where I spent hours watching the flying fish. Something magical about that. 
 

3.  Our large Oceanview Stateroom, loved the big shower with the curved glass door - and our Room Steward, Jarot who really took care of us. 
 

4.  While the food wasn’t perfect, I still never had to cook!
 

5.  Guitarist Charlie !  
 

Thank you for your honest Review!

[TommyD3]

7 hours ago, Dave Judy said:

 The Pasta Bar was open, thank goodness.  We would have had a third dinner, but walked through and saw the Pasta Bar was closed. 

Wondering what is up with the pasta bar? Is it open early in the evening but then closes after an hour or two?

[Texter2]

We took the Apex EBTA last April/May and had the same noise experience in an oceanview cabin at the front of the ship. We would hear laughing and yelling until 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. most nights. I did mention it to Guest Services, but was told the crew were not allowed to get together. This is the first report I have had that verifies my experience. Thank you for verifying that I was not hearing things!

 

OTOH the front facing OV cabins are the most exciting place to be if there is a medical evacuation!  

[Crazy planning mom]

Question- about the cuts of meat.  You said the better cuts aren't available at the MDR.  Royal usually offers a Chops Steak at the MDR for an additional fee.  Does Celebrity offer the same?

Hope your wife recovers quickly and fully.

Edited February 7, 2023 by Crazy planning mom

[Dave Judy]

13 minutes ago, Crazy planning mom said:

Question- about the cuts of meat.  You said the better cuts aren't available at the MDR.  Royal usually offers a Chops Steak at the MDR for an additional fee.  Does Celebrity offer the same?

Hope your wife recovers quickly and fully.

No, I have not seen that in the 4 main dining rooms.  Each have three specialties + three offered in all 4 + three specials for that night alone - technically  a “choice” of nine different entrées but not quite the reality… For the good steaks 🥩 they want you to got to their “Pay to Play” Steakhouse - sorry, I forget the name. 
 

I’ve actually had COVID three times, twice off a ship and she twice, but this time the strain has really knocked her for a loop.  In time, she’ll bounce back. 

[Dave Judy]

21 minutes ago, Texter2 said:

We took the Apex EBTA last April/May and had the same noise experience in an oceanview cabin at the front of the ship. We would hear laughing and yelling until 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. most nights. I did mention it to Guest Services, but was told the crew were not allowed to get together. This is the first report I have had that verifies my experience. Thank you for verifying that I was not hearing things!

 

OTOH the front facing OV cabins are the most exciting place to be if there is a medical evacuation!  

Texter2  That was our experience.  First night, slamming doors, booming noises  (thought it was waves crashing on the bow) and ladies talking loudly (where did that come from?)  late at night.  Next time, we had it figured out and asked to talk directly with the Hotel Manager as we had met her earlier under positive circumstances.  We got assurances and a surprise FCC.  But, that still didn’t fix it. 
 

Because you can’t see them or “wind” your window down, the location really was quite the mystery.  Glad we could solve it for you.  Won’t book that location again.