Nice Ship - Wrong time

Celebrity Apex Cruise Review to Europe - Western Europe

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 66

Overall rating:

3.8 out of 5
Celebrity Apex

12 Night Portugal Spain & France (Amsterdam Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 11, 2022

Ship: Celebrity Apex

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 12105

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

We have cruised over 34 years and while the new ships are great, the experience is not. The cruise lines continue to diminish the experience and cash in. Celebrity cannot get the entertainment since Covid. Whether it be Visa problems or the entertainers do not want to go on cruise ships it doesn't matter. Celebrity does not have their own production operations working to make it happen, so don't expect much. Crew shortages will impact you. The crew that is there is worn and under too much pressure. Time to find alternative. We had four cruises in last year about 4 months apart and things not improving other than not wearing masks.

Embarkation

3 out of 5
Amsterdam Port not roller friendly. Understaffed. Priority means nothing.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
Menu limited, repeats. Specialty restaurants limited menus and can be good one night, and below average the next. This ship cannot staff and it shows in all areas. Do not expect this to be a full experience cruise. Too soon after Covid for them to get Visas for crew needed.

Magic Carpet

2 out of 5

No service bar as well and very uncomfortable chairs.

Blu

4 out of 5

Food was good, but very loud venue to eat.

Eden Restaurant

4 out of 5

Nice atmosphere but a hit and miss on food. Very limited menu.

The Retreat Lounge

5 out of 5

Great venue and had good service

Luminae at The Retreat

5 out of 5

Third ship to visit with Luminae and finally got it right.

Raw on Five

2 out of 5

Disappointed. Skip it.

Oceanview Cafe

3 out of 5

Large open concept and still was very crowded. Food nothing special either.

Fine Cut Steakhouse

5 out of 5

Very nice venue and food was good

Eden Bar

1 out of 5

Serve yourself bar. No service.

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5

Entertainment

2 out of 5
One good outside comedian came on board. Most shows are all electronic and limited costumes. No real production shows. Very disappointed

The Club

3 out of 5

This is too small for this ship and not al ot of seats for the size of space. Limited bar service as well. Shows were less than spectacular.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5
Staff did what they could. Over worked and it shows. They need to either crew up, or passenger down. Not fair to employees or guests

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
Liked the new ship design and layout. Magic Carpet a letdown. There is not a comfortable chair on this ship, inside or out.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Great suite, but views from balconies are obstructed due to overhang. Other than that it is a fantastic suite.

Ship tip

Put off you cruise for another 6 months. They cannot staff the ships. They are booking them full of passengers but the crew is limited due to the ability to get Visa's so they say.

Ports of call

Amsterdam, Netherlands

4 out of 5
Did Anne Frank and a Canal Cruise. City was not very clean on the streets and you will get run over by a bicycle. The locals really don't like the tourist and it shows.

La Rochelle, France

4 out of 5
Did a self tour. Easy to walk around.

Bilbao, Spain

4 out of 5
Went to Guggenheim Museum. Had a nice time and good tour - Private

La Coruna, Spain

3 out of 5
Took a private tour to Santiago De Compestela. Terrible tour guide. Sights were OK and once free of tour enjoyed time.

Leixoes (Oporto), Portugal

4 out of 5
Good city tour even though guide had poor English, enjoyed Oporto

Lisbon, Portugal

4 out of 5
Guide was good and tour was OK. Should skip the distillery tour.

Cadiz (Seville), Spain

5 out of 5

Gibraltar (U.K.)

4 out of 5
Self tour, went to the top of rock for lunch. Limited time to do much more.

Cartagena, Spain

5 out of 5
Very nice city with alot of great sights easy to walk to from ship.

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

4 out of 5
Stayed in Rome 2 days post cruise. You need a guide to get the most of Vatican and Colosseum which we had. Taxi drivers are quite aggressive. This is an expensive place to visit .

Disembarkation

4 out of 5
Easy off the ship and baggage claim. Once you leave terminal building it is a mad house and no organization.
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7 Comments

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us.

javawoody    2 years ago

Appreciate your comments

CruisedudeNY65    2 years ago

Thanks for sharing.

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

Dumfy75    2 years ago

At least you enjoyed the great itinerary, sorry you didn’t enjoy the ship experience as much

RetiredRay    2 years ago

Glad most of the trip was good.

AuntPinkie    2 years ago

Great itinerary. Appreciate your detailed review. Glad you enjoyed the ports of call. Sorry the rest was not up to your expectations.

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