AshleyDillo Posted November 19, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 Even modern luxury isn't free from the lure of cheap jewelry freebies. Where Royal has the rope bracelets, this Apex cruise does these teeny little charms you put in a clear locket. My mother eats this stuff up. Free is her favorite four-letter word. Jax, Lovetocruise2002, Cactus527 and 5 others 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGTLH Posted November 19, 2023 Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 33 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said: My brother got a pink drink. Said "pink drink" was the Gingertini. Prior to that was the Tea Leaf, no picture taken. Between the two, I'd go with the Tea Leaf. However, I'd probably go with @AshleyDillo choice of the Sake Daiquiri. Ampurp85, Lovetocruise2002, Cactus527 and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryS Posted November 19, 2023 Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 2 hours ago, AshleyDillo said: Our room was ready when we boarded and we were escorted right to the room when we boarded, similar to Star Class. We didn't have to lug around our carry-ons. I don't know if this is a perk, but it was nice. That's what I love about Celebrity. You board the ship and you can pickup your seapass and drop off carry on in your cabin even though the cabins aren't ready yet. WAAAYTOOO, PPPJJ-GCVAB, Neesa and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryS Posted November 19, 2023 Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 1 hour ago, OCSC Mike said: Traitors... all of ya! I'm not going anywhere until someone live blogs a Celebrity interior and eats in the buffet... I won't hold my breath. I might try a live blog of the Ascent late January. Not an interior but I do have a panoramic ocean view and I do enjoy the Oceanview Cafe. asquared17, CGTLH, OCSC Mike and 5 others 6 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 19, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 After getting the effy charms we ran into Matt as he passed by the store. And by ran into I mean my mother screamed out his wife's name to catch their attention. The goal of the rest the even was to find a bar server. We tried Craft Social and all the roaming servers were handling the casino. All the bar seats were taken so we abandoned that place and went to the martini bar. There again we sat for nearly 15 minutes before a bar server came over. It felt like we had to try too hard to get a drink. We are used to Royal where roaming bar servers asked us if we wanted drinks seemingly every 2 minutes. There was a DJ playing music while we were there. The martini bar seems to be a popular place to hang out. They have a lot of different $17 martinis including espresso martinis on tap. Around 10pm we called it a night and decided to check out Oceanview Cafe which is open until 1am. Lovetocruise2002, asquared17, Jax and 5 others 7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 19, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 I picked up a few sad pieces of pizza. They were having a difficult time keeping up. They roll out the dough fresh and cook it there in a pizza oven (making the entire back area of Oceanview Cafe super warm and uncomfortable). The pizza was okay. My mother said she wishes Royal had something like this. I said something like Sorrentos? She said yeah. Alrighty then. Lovetocruise2002, CrimsonCruiser, Neesa and 10 others 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 19, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 They did have a small section of the buffet open as well. There was a half-sized salad bar, meats and cheeses, a baked pasta dish and random desserts. This was our first visit to Oceanview Cafe. It is pretty massive and there were floor to ceiling windows. There's an outside eating area at the back of the ship. As my brother said, they use real plates. It was an unfortunate crew member cleaning tables that dropped one while we were there Cactus527, Ampurp85, PPPJJ-GCVAB and 4 others 1 3 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asquared17 Posted November 20, 2023 Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 santal 33!!!! AshleyDillo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampurp85 Posted November 20, 2023 Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 How's your mom enjoying the food? I like the late-night options, but that pizza actually looks slightly worse than Sorrento's. asquared17 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 8 hours ago, Ampurp85 said: How's your mom enjoying the food? I like the late-night options, but that pizza actually looks slightly worse than Sorrento's. I was too lazy to wait for fresh pizza so I grabbed what was up there and it had been sitting. I will have to try a fresh piece sometime. My mother is doing okay so far with the food surprisingly enough. Everything has come true to menu description without any surprise ingredients. This is also our first experience with Celebrity so we can't judge the inconsistencies in preparation that we find frustrating on Royal. Ampurp85 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLH Posted November 20, 2023 Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 I will say that Celebrity has a much better suite program than Royal by far! I have started doing more Celebrity when I find good prices. FireFishII, Neesa, Lovetocruise2002 and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 Our room is at the very front of the ship and the buffet is at the back of the ship. My mother didn't want to walk across the pool deck so we cut through the cabin hallway. It wasn't even 11pm yet the hallways were deserted. We passed one person on our way back to the cabin. The other thing we have noticed is the lack of cabin door decorations. Neesa, Lovetocruise2002, FireFishII and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 Clocks go forward an hour as we cruise towards San Juan, Puerto Rico. We decided to place room service breakfast order. Room service is complimentary in The Retreat. Cactus527, FireFishII, PPPJJ-GCVAB and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMOKEY0202 Posted November 20, 2023 Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 Currently on Celebrity in Europe, there has been no issue finding chair either in solarium or pool deck Made my way over to Sunset bar this morning and buffet didn't seem like a mob scene at all. Casino is smoke free which is a major plus in my book. Cruise director loaded $5 plus status amount to everyone sea pass card. Lucky mine turned into $200 last night. PPPJJ-GCVAB, Neesa, AshleyDillo and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 It's the little things... FireFishII, Neesa, PPPJJ-GCVAB and 6 others 8 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMOKEY0202 Posted November 20, 2023 Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 Don't forget rooms also provide beach bag, umbrella and night before port beach towels will be left in cabin Lovetocruise2002, Neesa, MaryS and 3 others 3 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 Day 2..at sea. Room service was our wake up call. The ubiquitous grilled tomatoes from Royal have been upgraded to sautéed mushrooms on the savory dishes. And just like Royal they interpreted how many items we intended our checkmark to mean..hence 3 bananas. We also checked off milk and a couple juices and only got one of each of those. I took a chance ordering the steak and eggs. Beef has just tasted weird on this ship so far. This was a "New York Strip" but it felt like it had been marinating in MSG. Maybe it's just the European season leftovers. The bacon was the English kind..not the crispy goodness I am seeking. Neesa, FireFishII, Lovetocruise2002 and 4 others 5 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 7 minutes ago, SMOKEY0202 said: Don't forget rooms also provide beach bag, umbrella and night before port beach towels will be left in cabin We don't have a beach bag, but we do have umbrellas and binoculars. As for the pajamas @Lovetocruise2002, they've been ordered. asquared17, Sweety, FireFishII and 2 others 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 With the status matching from Royal, we are Elite status on Celebrity. This is the Captain's Club activity sheet for the week. Lovetocruise2002, FireFishII, Jax and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted November 20, 2023 Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 34 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said: but we do have umbrellas and binoculars. Borrow or keep? Asking for a friend 35 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said: As for the pajamas @Lovetocruise2002, they've been ordered. I hear they run small. Let me how you guys find them to be.... Neesa 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 The day flew by and we didn't do much..lazed around the room, popped into the casino to make a donation, hit up Oceanview Cafe for lunch and then went up to the Retreat Lounge near the end of their afternoon tea. Oceanview Cafe is beautiful..very bright with lots of natural light from the floor to ceiling windows. We walked in about 11:50am expecting lunch but they weren't open yet and had the buffet ropes up blocking the food area. 12:00 is a later start for lunch than I'm used to. Sweety, Jax and Lovetocruise2002 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 Night 2 dinner was Jax, PPPJJ-GCVAB, asquared17 and 5 others 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 Le Petit Chef is a fixed menu dining experience. It is also a fixed time dining experience where the entire restaurant is seated and served at the same time so it's important to be on time for your reservation. I was most worried this meal because it's a fixed menu and my mother has a lot of food intolerances and aversions. Fortunately we visited the restaurant at lunch and spoke to them and they pre-arranged her customized selections. They offer 2 menus and you can mix/match the selections between the two menus. Ampurp85, Neesa, Sweety and 1 other 1 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 I went with Le Menu Extraordinare. PPPJJ-GCVAB, Cactus527, Sweety and 7 others 5 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 I'm glad this was included with the dining package so I could try it. I wouldn't pay $60 for it for sure. The short rib dish made the meal very filling..but I wasn't wowed by anything I ate. The pacing was also obnoxious because they have to wait for the entire restaurant to be finished with a course before moving on to the next ones. FireFishII, Lovetocruise2002, Jax and 5 others 3 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 We went to the casino afterwards. They had an hour where they loaded $5 of slots free play to everyone's account so of course we had to use our free money and donate some more. The casino feels nice and clean. I love that it is non-smoking. They have bar service roaming around to take drink orders but no dedicated casino bar. Ampurp85, FireFishII, instaGator and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 We did go to the show called Crystallize. It was a singer, dancer, aerialist show in the main theater. The lineup to enter the theater started 30 minutes before the show. The dedicated seating for Retreat guests is on the upper level middle balcony area. It was a completely full show and they don't do reservations so be sure to line up to guarantee you get a seat. Lovetocruise2002, Cactus527, Neesa and 5 others 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 After the show they had Silent Disco going at the martini bar. It appears this is a big thing and quite popular on Celebrity. I've never seen it this lively on any Royal ships. They also have the fancier 3-channel headphone setups. MichelleB1234, MaryS, PPPJJ-GCVAB and 5 others 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 One thing I've noticed is they're free pouring the drinks..no measured jiggers used at the bars that I've seen. Neesa, Lovetocruise2002, PPPJJ-GCVAB and 3 others 1 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 Fancy truffles awaited us back in the room. Sweety, Lovetocruise2002, Neesa and 6 others 4 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 Finally I'm actually live..welcome to day 3! We make it to San Juan at 3:30 so it's almost a sea day. CrimsonCruiser, FireFishII, MaryS and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampurp85 Posted November 20, 2023 Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 I am loving the blog I priced the retreat on Xcel for Jan 2026. It's not a bad price, under $10k for 3 of us and that's probably because of the black Friday sale. However looking at the menus I am particularly worried . I'm a picky eater and the specialty restaurants seem heavy on seafood. I was also wondering is it 4 devices pp or 4 devices for the suite? FireFishII, asquared17 and Lovetocruise2002 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGTLH Posted November 20, 2023 Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 7 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said: I was also wondering is it 4 devices pp or 4 devices for the suite? Each of us were able to pick the four device option. Documentation says it should be one device per person. Add to the confusion, few days before sailing I got a cancellation email and purchase emails from the Cruise Planner. Cancellation was for single device, purchase was two device. PPPJJ-GCVAB, Cactus527, Ampurp85 and 2 others 1 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 We used the only room service hanger we had for breakfast in the room, so we had to leave for breakfast this morning. We decided to check out Luminae. Luminae is the dedicated Retreat restaurant. Definitely gave Coastal Kitchen vibes. asquared17, FireFishII, Neesa and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 So fancy.. MaryS, asquared17, PPPJJ-GCVAB and 5 others 2 3 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 I was excited to see some new to me menu items. Sailing Royal so often I don't even bother with breakfast and choose extra sleep most of the time these days. All of the juices are fresh squeezed with lots of pulp, other than the prune juice I assume. Maybe I will ask if it's fresh squeezed next time. They had roaming servers with the trays of juices and smoothies. The smoothies are basically just fruit and milk blended together, not overly sweet. PPPJJ-GCVAB, Neesa, FireFishII and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 They also had servers roaming with trays of pastries. These were much larger and fresher than the ones we are used to on Royal. This was a raisin bun and it was warm and flaky. I ordered the peach cobbler French toast..the cobbler fell off. Notice the subtle Retreat branding on the plate. MaryS, Neesa, Lovetocruise2002 and 5 others 7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 The French toast was very good (without all the toppings that were too sweet for me). They actually used a brioche and it tasted like it had been soaked in a sweet custard. It's basically exactly how I expect a thicker French toast to be. They also had frequent coffee service, almost to the point of being obnoxious. I should have just let them fill my cup after the 5th offer, even though I was finished. If only bar service could be this attentive. Neesa, PPPJJ-GCVAB, Lovetocruise2002 and 2 others 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 Afterwards we had another effy charm to collect, my mother had another casino donation to make and we wandered down to check out Eden. Lovetocruise2002 and FireFishII 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 The ship really is beautiful, very reminiscent of Anthem of the Seas which is the only Quantum class ship I have sailed. Anthem was modern and had a much different design than the other Royal ships. If you've ever been on a Quantum class ship, heading back to the Eden area will feel familiar similar to heading down the Via to 270. Along the way is Blu which is the Aqua class exclusive dining room. It's gorgeous. Blue You keep walking through this weird hallway... ... Welcome to Eden. FireFishII, Jax, PPPJJ-GCVAB and 5 others 6 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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