Celebrity Apex - May 2024
Participants: Tam & Kev and a good few others!
This was a 4 day cruise from Southampton stopping at Amsterdam and Bruges. There were some big events this year including 60th birthdays for Tam, Daryl and our friends Moira and Steve. To this end Deb and Jane got together and booked this short cruise to celebrate. Tam and I wern't going to go at first as we had so much on during the year, but we managed to work it out in the end and so the complete list of sailors was:
Tam and Kev
Deb and Matt
Gareth and Jane
Daryl and Karen
Moira and Steve
It was also a
first ever cruise for Moira and Steve.
This isn't a complete trip report, but a few photos of the ship
and places we visited.
Sailing from Southampton is definitely very easy for us as we're only about a 90 minute drive away and we booked parking at the port right alongside the ship. Check in was amazingly simple and fast and we were on the ship just around midday.
This photo was taken on a boat trip in Amsterdam, but it shows the Apex in all it's glory. If I'm honest it's not the prettiest ship I've ever seen, the stubby bow looks a bit weird.
The favourite part of the ship for Tam and I was Eden. It's a bar, restaurant and show space that looks out over the aft of the ship.
The restaurant is downstairs and the bar upstairs.
One of the first things that you notice on this ship is the many pieces of artwork. Some of them are really interesting.
The bar is on the left. We really liked the chairs on the raised platform that have glorious views out the back of the ship.
This photo shows the bar better. You can get a drink from here or take a seat and wait for a server to come round and take your order. This could be a bit hit and miss at busy times, but we never waited too long to make use of the drink package we'd purchased. That's one thing to be aware of on Celebrity ships these days .. the prices are eye watering. We upgraded our drinks package to premium and that covered all drinks up to $20. This covered nearly everything except some of the pricier cocktails in Eden and the better wines. If you pay per glass beer prices are between $8 and $11.
This photo nearly has everyone in. Jane and Matt seem to have been cut out somewhat. This was our meal in Eden on our first night. It's not cheap, I think the current price is $89 and gratuity, but it was a lovely meal.
This was taken through the window as we ate our meal.
Eden also doubles as a show space most evenings. We enjoyed this as well. There's no doubt that this was far and away our favourite part of the ship.
This is one of the main dining rooms. There are 4 of them and I much prefer the smaller space compared to the cavernous main dining areas on the older ships.
There isn't a main atrium as such. This is the martini bar and everything in the centre fo the ship revolves around this. You can see a couple of the speciality restaurants on the floors above. I can't say we enjoyed this concept too much. The bar was always full in the evenings with loud music playing much of the time. That's ok, but the sound carries into the restaurants above. Not really a relaxed experience.
We had lunch on our first day at the food court. Now this was very good. There was always an amazing variety of food to choose from and we didn't find it too hard to get a place to sit and eat.
This was our stateroom. It doesn't have a balcony as such. Celebrity call it an Infinite Veranda. The large window at the end drops down half way so you can look out on the sea and get fresh air. It does have the advantage of making the room bigger as the balcony becomes part of the inside space and makes it seem lighter and more airy. It worked very well for our cruise in cooler weather, but I wouldn't want one if the cruise were in warmer climes.
More artwork.
The theatre was very hi tech with a massive display wall.
The adult only solarium is similar to other Celebrity ships and very useful on wet or cold days.
The Rooftop Garden is lovely.
This is the Magic Carpet. It's mostly a bar and restaurant, but amazingly it slides up and down the outside of the ship and can be used to load people in tenders when required at some ports.
One of the pools. We were lucky to have really nice weather on our at sea day and the outside areas got very busy.
There is a dress code for most of the restaurants although I'm not sure it's implemented that strictly. There are no formal nights, they are now called chic nights. Most people made an effort.
This was one of the show in the theatre. No prizes for guessing what it was called.
Tam and I enjoyed this show. The band played tracks from iconic performances such as Simon and Garfunkel live in Central Park.
We had to take a photo of the section celebrating our boy Bruce.
So,
overall what did we think? We were in a pretty good position to
judge as we'd not long returned from our Panama cruise on
Princess. The first impression that we had when we walked onto
the Apex was that it felt more luxurious and upmarket than the
Ruby Princess. I suppose it's not really a direct comparison as
the Apex is much newer than the Ruby.
The food was definitely better on the Apex, but you pay more for
it especially in the speciality restaurants. Drinks are cheaper
on Princess, but you sort of forget this when you've bought a
drinks package upfront.
The entertainment is a mixture. The theatre on Apex is amazing and the shows more modern, but we liked the many bands in the bars on Ruby. The bars themselves, although more old school on the Ruby, are more plentiful and more relaxed. There are few inside bars on Apex and these get pretty busy. The outside areas are lovely, but not of much use in cooler weather.
The
stateroom on Apex is definitely more contemporary, but I
understand why the Infinite Veranda is divisive.
Still, we liked it well enough to book another a cruise while
onboard. We are doing a 7 night trip to the fjords in May 2025.
The Infinite Veranda might actually be a good thing on this
cruise as it's likely to be chilly at times.
[BRUGES]