Enjoyable Carribean Cruise
Celebrity Apex Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 25
7 Night Western Caribbean Holiday (Fort Lauderdale Roundtrip)
Sail date: December 23, 2023
Ship: Celebrity Apex
Cabin number: 11167
Traveled as: Large Group
Reviewed: 11 months ago
Review summary
This was a nice Christmas Cruise. There was something for everyone. It was family friendly and that was good I saw families of three generations enjoying themselves and that was good.Embarkation
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The main dining area was good there was a lot of variety. The ice cream area was delicious. The food at the grill on the deck served nice hot fries and even had a veggie burger which was good to see. The food was replenished quickly at each of the stations.
The service in the special dining rooms was great at the Cosmopolitan the Maitre d' Danillo was excellent he made sure that particular dining room had top notch service. Also I need to highlight Marius, a waiter for his excellent service as well as Melissa, she was excellent as well and very attentive. JP was another member of the team who provided excellent and friendly service.
At the other three restaurants the service was slow. Perhaps this was because the servers were waiting for our large party to finish appetizers before bringing out the main course. However that should have been a conversation. It seemed our dinner time dragged on because of the slow service. Also some of the desserts such as an apple strudel that should have been served hot were served luke warm at best. That shouldn't have been the case.
It was my birthday on the cruise and that night we ate at the French restaurant. The waiters came out and enthusiastically sang Happy Birthday I thought that was a nice touch.
Onboard Activities
I missed the fact that there was no pomp and circumstance when we sailed away. That is a celebration and there was one lone musician and that was it. That was really disappointing. I really enjoyed the trivia games in The Club. The hosts for those games were lively. However, one trivia game was labeled Holiday Music Trivia and when my mom and I went not a single holiday song was played just a variety of songs to identify that was disappointing.
My family members and I did a scavenger hunt in the art galler and that was quick and fun. A great way to introduce the art gallery to cruisers. The art talks only had a few attendees however I attended two of the three and they were very informative and the presenter was very enthusiastic.
Entertainment
My mom and I enjoyed the Holiday show. The Aretha Franklin Tribute show had a great singer Charity L. She had a beautiful voice and was engaging however we were disappointed that she didn't sing more of Aretha's songs. Aretha has such a catalouge. She could have done two or three medleys of Aretha's music during her set. The backdrop during that performance was very well done. Kudos to the stage production team.
Children's Programs
My sister and her fiancee' brought their kids on the cruise ages 7 and 12 and they really enjoyed the kids club. The staff there really had great acrtivities for them to do. It was great that the service was free to allow parents/guardians and kids to try it out and aside from that it was reasonably priced.
Service and Staff
The staff worked really hard to provide great service. Suta was the steward for our room and he was kind and kept the room in top condition.
I am not sure where to put this so I will put it here. The way the staff ran the theater for cruisers to go on excursions in Belize was not acceptable and it must be made better organized. Numbers were being called at random. It was easy to miss things. My suggestion - Have the numbers on a screen and highlight them when it is time for people in that group to meet and leave. Give a first and final call. Another suggestion have those in a certain number range sit in a designated area and a staff member hold up a panel/paddle with that number so everyone is in the same area. That system in the theater definitely needs to be revamped.
Danillo, JP, Melissa, Marius, Pandi (name shortened - in Cosmopolitan) all provided great service.
Ship Quality
Yes, It was easy to get around the ship and the areas were well maintained. The walking deck was great, The walk and run lanes made it a pleasant experience for exercisers. And the area it covered was nice. The fact that there were so many different types of seating areas indoors and outdoors was also good. The workout area was good as well.
Cabin / Stateroom
Loved the cabin it was comfortable and the bathroom size was good it didn't feel cramped and that is something I have experienced on other cruise lines. It was simple yet tastely decorated and a nice size with a good amount of space to store clothing and other items.
Ports of call
Enjoyed the beach at this port. Wish the transport to the beach was really air conditioned as the beach was a distance. Nice day out.
Thumbs Up
0
Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras
My mom and I did the Best of Roatan Tour. Our tour guide Marcus was great he was engaging and answered all our questions. However on the tour we went on a boat ride and we were not given life jackets to wear. I enjoyed the tour because the guide was informative but both my mom and I feel we should have been given or offered life vests for safety. I specifically booked the tour because I was very interested to learn about the history and culture of the Garifuna people. I thought we would go a village or see a replica and also get to experience some of thier music and dancing. Unfortunately the dance performance was very short and we did not go to a village as I expected and there was very little history given. I appreciated the tour however I feel that there needs to be more added to that portion to make it meaningful and more worthwile seeing as it was billed at The Best of Roatan.
My family and I did the Mayan Ruins tour. Both guides were engaging and gave informative talks about the ruins as well as about Belize City. And the coach bus was well air conditioned. It was quite a ride to the ruins it was very hot outside. I feel that the tour needs to include a small snack like a granola bar/nuts in addition to the one bottle of water which we received. Each person should have one bottle of water and then a second as an option on a very hot and humid day as it was on the day we did the tour.
We went to the La Playa beach excursion. It was good for the kids however the adults could not do the water sports due to the choppiness of the water. I feel the staff should have offered activities to do on the sand or in a portion of the buffet area. I saw one small activity going however there wasn't a variety of activities to choose from
Disembarkation
The area to pick up the luggage was very clearly marked and that was great. I felt getting on the Celebrity transport it was not so clear who to talk to or check in with.