Celebrity Apex Trans Atlantic May 2-15

[Bmac]

A review of our thoughts about our cruise, things we liked and things we felt could use improvement. We have only cruised Royal so this is really a comparison between the two.

First off we thought the ship was beautiful. The decor was upscale and classy as opposed to the Vegas Casino feel that you get with some Royal ships. We felt the service and food were definitely a step up from Royal and more reminiscent of what Royal was pre shut down. I can say that we had no meals that we felt could be improved. We did sail Aqua Class and used Blu for the most part aside from specialty dining. All of our meals came to our table piping hot so much so you couldn't touch the plate. What we did notice was that in the dining venues we didn't see them using cloches to keep the food warm which I feel has a tendency to make crispy foods a bit soft or soggy. The Oceanview Cafe was also very good with a large selection of different items daily. We are not buffet people but we did enjoy the Oceanview Cafe. The specialty dining was exceptional on this ship we ate at Fine Cut, Raw on Five, Le Petite Chef, Rooftop Grill and Eden. Our favorites were Eden and Rooftop Grill not saying the others were bad we just felt the overall experience was better at these two venues the food at the others was just as good.

Now on to the bar service. Like I mentioned we sailed in Aqua Class and opted for the inclusive package which included the classic drink package any drinks up to $10. The classic drink package would work for people who are really just wine or beer drinkers as they have a good selection of beers and wines at the $10 and under price point. If you prefer mixed drinks as my wife and I do I would recommend upgrading to the Premium package as I don't recall seeing and mixed drinks for under $17 so you would get charged the difference to you stateroom bill. The bartenders were friendly and worked very hard to make sure everyone was served in a reasonable amount of time and they poured heavy compared to Royal, never any need to ask them to add more liquor. Many of the bartenders kept track of your name and cabin number so we never really needed to present our sea pass for a drink particularly the bars we frequented.

Now to the things we feel could used to be improved keeping in mind these might be a bit trivial but I'll mention anyway. As with any cruise you will run into "hogs". We were in Aqua class and had access to the thermal spa which we both enjoyed aside from the heat bed hogs. It was almost impossible to get time on one of the heat beds as people would spend hours either surfing their phones reading or completely sleeping and snoring. How they could improve this I don't know aside from more policing by the staff which as we know leads to poor customer surveys "which by the way I hate". The show times could be pushed off another 30 minutes to allow for people to eat dinner and still have time to catch a show afterwards. We didn't see a single show due to time conflicts with dinner and I'll explain. This cruise had many elderly people who would line up at the theatre an hour to an hour and a half early which was a frustration not to mention the theatre only seated 900 passengers for a cruise that had 3000 people on it. Most of our dinners took 75 minutes. We had an early seating time which I can't understand why they ask your preference being as there are multiple dining venues. The first night Blu didn't open until 7:30 which is entirely too late for us to eat we like to try and stay on our home eating schedule as best possible I know it seems trivial but we have a pretty set eating sleeping schedule so we tried eating at Normandie grille. We went to Normandie at our set time of 6:00 and were promptly informed that the dining didn't work that way. We were told that it would be a ten minute wait and were handed a pager as if we were waiting at Applebees which I felt was a bit tacky and the wait turned into 25-30 minutes. The good thing was we were Aqua class and we could get into Blu at any time we chose after the first night. As I mentioned in another post if you don't see anything you want at any of the main dining venues you can order the signature dishes from other restaurants at all of the main dining rooms. Other than these few gripes overall the cruise was excellent and we might be Celebrity converts now, although we do have a Caribbean cruise booked for Halloween. 

If anyone has any questions I'd be happy to respond.

 

[Last Lion]

I am on Apex for the Trans Atlantic west bound this October.

Were there a lot of lectures in the theatre to fill the seas days?

Was the entertainment repetitive or did they have extra performers to provide variety on such a long cruise?

I have 6 pm seating as well. What time did the theatre shows start?

Thanks!

[Bmac]

Yes there were lectures almost everyday if not everyday.

Did not get to see much/any entertainment due to dining conflicts and the fact that you need to get to the theatre 1-1,1/2 hours before the show or you weren't getting a seat.

The early show started at 7:30 and the late at 9:45. Which is why there were dining conflicts. I feel that they should push the showtimes out another half hour to give more time to get to the show. Dinner took on average 75-90 minutes so if you wanted to have dinner and go to the show immediately after dinner that was not possible due to not enough seating available in the theatre. It didn't seem that the shows were repetitive from what I could, tell they would do two shows a night and that was it for that particular show, but like I mentioned we didn't see any of the theatre shows. We did see a show called Caravan but that was in the Club Bar and once again seating was very limited.

The dining times are irrelevant as you can go to any of the dining rooms whenever you want but you will wait to be seated. I thought having a set dining time meant they would seat you at that time but that was not the case. Instead they gave you a pager. We were in Aqua Class so we had a dedicated dining room Blu and they would get you seated quickly when you showed up. But still not enough time to eat and get to the show.

One thing I didn't mention in original post which we really liked was that the mixers for drinks at the bars were fresh squeezed juices, I hate the boxed, premade mixers especially the lime juice as it's way too acidic.

Hope this helps and enjoy your cruise.

[Bob_KY]

Bmac, thanks for your review and thoughts. We booked AquaClass for our next cruise too.  After much debate, I upgraded the Classic drink package to the Premium package - Not only for the cocktail price points, but the Spa smoothies/juices.  I was glad to see your reinforcing opinion.  BTW, the X mobile app and the website could not process the upgrade.  The error was a member of my party is not eligible (age - great compliment, but over 4 decades wrong).  I called the X help desk and it was resolved in 30 minutes.  Considering your Day 1 Blu opening time comment, we will book a specialty restaurant for DAY 1.

[NotPayinExtra]

On 5/20/2024 at 4:30 PM, Bmac said:

A review of our thoughts about our cruise, things we liked and things we felt could use improvement. We have only cruised Royal so this is really a comparison between the two.

First off we thought the ship was beautiful. The decor was upscale and classy as opposed to the Vegas Casino feel that you get with some Royal ships. We felt the service and food were definitely a step up from Royal and more reminiscent of what Royal was pre shut down. I can say that we had no meals that we felt could be improved. We did sail Aqua Class and used Blu for the most part aside from specialty dining. All of our meals came to our table piping hot so much so you couldn't touch the plate. What we did notice was that in the dining venues we didn't see them using cloches to keep the food warm which I feel has a tendency to make crispy foods a bit soft or soggy. The Oceanview Cafe was also very good with a large selection of different items daily. We are not buffet people but we did enjoy the Oceanview Cafe. The specialty dining was exceptional on this ship we ate at Fine Cut, Raw on Five, Le Petite Chef, Rooftop Grill and Eden. Our favorites were Eden and Rooftop Grill not saying the others were bad we just felt the overall experience was better at these two venues the food at the others was just as good.

Now on to the bar service. Like I mentioned we sailed in Aqua Class and opted for the inclusive package which included the classic drink package any drinks up to $10. The classic drink package would work for people who are really just wine or beer drinkers as they have a good selection of beers and wines at the $10 and under price point. If you prefer mixed drinks as my wife and I do I would recommend upgrading to the Premium package as I don't recall seeing and mixed drinks for under $17 so you would get charged the difference to you stateroom bill. The bartenders were friendly and worked very hard to make sure everyone was served in a reasonable amount of time and they poured heavy compared to Royal, never any need to ask them to add more liquor. Many of the bartenders kept track of your name and cabin number so we never really needed to present our sea pass for a drink particularly the bars we frequented.

Now to the things we feel could used to be improved keeping in mind these might be a bit trivial but I'll mention anyway. As with any cruise you will run into "hogs". We were in Aqua class and had access to the thermal spa which we both enjoyed aside from the heat bed hogs. It was almost impossible to get time on one of the heat beds as people would spend hours either surfing their phones reading or completely sleeping and snoring. How they could improve this I don't know aside from more policing by the staff which as we know leads to poor customer surveys "which by the way I hate". The show times could be pushed off another 30 minutes to allow for people to eat dinner and still have time to catch a show afterwards. We didn't see a single show due to time conflicts with dinner and I'll explain. This cruise had many elderly people who would line up at the theatre an hour to an hour and a half early which was a frustration not to mention the theatre only seated 900 passengers for a cruise that had 3000 people on it. Most of our dinners took 75 minutes. We had an early seating time which I can't understand why they ask your preference being as there are multiple dining venues. The first night Blu didn't open until 7:30 which is entirely too late for us to eat we like to try and stay on our home eating schedule as best possible I know it seems trivial but we have a pretty set eating sleeping schedule so we tried eating at Normandie grille. We went to Normandie at our set time of 6:00 and were promptly informed that the dining didn't work that way. We were told that it would be a ten minute wait and were handed a pager as if we were waiting at Applebees which I felt was a bit tacky and the wait turned into 25-30 minutes. The good thing was we were Aqua class and we could get into Blu at any time we chose after the first night. As I mentioned in another post if you don't see anything you want at any of the main dining venues you can order the signature dishes from other restaurants at all of the main dining rooms. Other than these few gripes overall the cruise was excellent and we might be Celebrity converts now, although we do have a Caribbean cruise booked for Halloween. 

If anyone has any questions I'd be happy to respond.

 

This is very helpful. We have the 6pm dinning for next year on Beyond and I still am trying to understand how it works. Everyone says you can go to the dining room of your choice. It stands to reason all won't have a table ready and waiting at 6pm. Having to wait 25 minutes might as well be anytime freestyle dinning though. Thanks for the real time report.

[JeffB]

Some thoughts on Edge Class ships, dining: We've sailed 3/4 Edge Class ships at least once and in some cases 3 or more times. Ascent is the one Edge Class ship we've not sailed and obviously XL which is not in service yet. Edge class dining is unique as compared to Millennium and Solstice class ships. When you book, you can choose Select Fixed or Anytime Dining. As the title reveals Fixed Dining has two seatings - early and late - 6pm or 8:30pm. I'm told by restaurant staff that the 4 Edge class restaurants have specific areas for fixed and anytime diners when times might conflict. I can honestly say, I've never noticed this. After our first Edge Class Cruise (on Edge) during which we had fixed seating - as was our preference on Solstice and Millennium class ships - that didn't work if you like trying all four of the main restaurants and maybe settle on one that you like the staff best. Menus are essentially the same with the exception of a specialty main course and dessert. My experience is that you can forget about making reservations for any time dining. It doesn't work pre-cruise on the app and the hostesses will tell you don't worry, come when you like. If you do Fixed seating, you'll be initially assigned to one of the 4 restaurants. You can change but I don't think the restaurant managers like doing a lot of that. It messes up their table planning, especially if you are in a large group.

As you enter any of the Edge class ship's 4 restaurants, there are two hostess podiums - one for diners with reservations, one for diners without reservations. Again, I don't think it makes any difference. You're seated according to table availability by usually, I've found, one default hostess. Who, BTW is also really good at managing table availability. All the hostesses want to know is your cabin number. There are definitely the right and wrong times to get a table quickly instead of waiting. You're' going to wait from 6 to at 6:50pm and at 8 to just after. I have found that if I leave the theater before the cruise director's gig at the end of the show, go directly to the main dining venue of our choice for that night, I'll get seated right away and my wife will join me with the friendly guidance of wait staff or maitre d. If you find a wait staff you like, and if you ask, the hostess will try to assign you a table in that wait staff's assigned section. The best hostesses, and most of them are very good, will remember you and your cabin number when you approach their podium if you are a repeat diner in one venue. We are late diners for the sole purpose of seeing the 7pm shows. That works for us. It's tight if, like the OP, you want to eat early and then see the 7pm shows. It would be nice if main dining hours started at 5 or 5:30pm to accommodate a more relaxed early dining experience for early diners wanting to see the 7pm show. Optionally, you can eat early and then stay up for the 9pm show.

Specialty restaurants: Well, our fave, Murano, is not on Edge Class ships. TBH, the specialty restaurant up-charge on Edge Class may not provide a better dining experience than the 4  main dining restaurants. JMO. YMMV.... and your experience by ship will also vary but is, for the most part, consistently great. Fine Cuts is very good but too much food for us. We've seen Le Petit Chef - it's a fun one time experience. I actually like Raw on 5. You can usually walk in at any time if you get the urge but, again, why? On the plus side, I've never found it to be very busy. It's an ala-cart menu and IMO, affordable/not over-priced. Forget dining on the Magic Carpet unless you are in port and it's not raining or windy. I've found that bar and dining innovation to be off-putting. Again, JMO. You can also walk into Le Grand Bistro. Nice but nothing special, rarely busy, a nice lunch option with a Frenchy al-cart menu. Eden is indeed very nice. We've experienced both excellent and not up to par dining experiences in Eden though. It takes just one of these to make you think twice about paying a specialty dining up charge.

Blue and Luminae are dining venues for Aqua and Suite Class guests respectively. We don't book Aqua Class at all and can't comment on Blue - it looks appealing. We booked suites twice, dined at Luminae and found it noisy and trying too hard to be special and upscale. You don't like lines? They form at Luminae all the time. No reservations! Strange. Very off-putting, IMO. The retreat was over-crowded on ships sailing at cabin capacity and you paid a ton extra for that privilege. Think carefully about booking a suite when you can do two cruises in a Balcony for the price of the least expensive of suites - the Sky Suite - with the dubious special privilege's of dining at a noisy, not very special, supposedly exclusive restaurant and fighting the crowds at the main pool while at a small Retreat area pool area with a limited number of lounge chairs.

Here's a decent but, as usual, not a great read on Celebrity's supposedly only Edge Class dining dining. There's a section on Murano which isn't on Edge Class ships. Go figure.

https://www.celebritycruises.com/blog/celebrity-select-dining

PS: the Entertainment venues on Edge class ships are, again, unique and innovative. Yes, the main theater is small. People line up early to get seats they want - usually the best ones for viewing the stage. But, the LED screens, theater in the round, and the Broadway quality of the production shows, to me, are worth going early and lining up. There are usually three of them on each cruise of 7d or more. The Club on deck 4 mid-ship, hosts  production shows as well and lines form an hour early for those usually late in the evening shows in this venue. It holds maybe 150 people and there are only a hand-full of really good seats close to the performing area. There are usually two, sometimes more of these per 7d cruise. Eden hosts production staff shows too. Once more, guests grab the best seats close to the performance area an hour to 90 minutes early. Once again, worth the wait if you want to experience production dancers, singers, aerialists and acrobats (a separate cast from those doing the production shows in the main theater) doing their stuff within a few feet of where you're seated. Exhilarating and the performers seem to thrive on this kind of intimate performing. Usually, only one of these per 7d cruise. Worth staying up late and going early. Relax and have a pre-show drink!

[NotPayinExtra]

14 minutes ago, JeffB said:

Some thoughts on Edge Class ships, dining: We've sailed 3/4 Edge Class ships at least once and in some cases 3 or more times. Ascent is the one Edge Class ship we've not sailed and obviously XL which is not in service yet. Edge class dining is unique as compared to Millennium and Solstice class ships. When you book, you can choose Select Fixed or Anytime Dining. As the title reveals Fixed Dining has two seatings - early and late - 6pm or 8:30pm. I'm told by restaurant staff that the 4 Edge class restaurants have specific areas for fixed and anytime diners when times might conflict. I can honestly say, I've never noticed this. After our first Edge Class Cruise (on Edge) during which we had fixed seating - as was our preference on Solstice and Millennium class ships - that didn't work if you like trying all four of the main restaurants and maybe settle on one that you like the staff best. Menus are essentially the same with the exception of a specialty main course and dessert. My experience is that you can forget about making reservations for any time dining. It doesn't work pre-cruise on the app and the hostesses will tell you don't worry, come when you like. If you do Fixed seating, you'll be initially assigned to one of the 4 restaurants. You can change but I don't think the restaurant managers like doing a lot of that. It messes up their table planning, especially if you are in a large group.

As you enter any of the Edge class ship's 4 restaurants, there are two hostess podiums - one for diners with reservations, one for diners without reservations. Again, I don't think it makes any difference. You're seated according to table availability by usually, I've found, one default hostess. Who, BTW is also really good at managing table availability. All the hostesses want to know is your cabin number. There are definitely the right and wrong times to get a table quickly instead of waiting. You're' going to wait from 6 to at 6:50pm and at 8 to just after. I have found that if I leave the theater before the cruise director's gig at the end of the show, go directly to the main dining venue of our choice for that night, I'll get seated right away and my wife will join me with the friendly guidance of wait staff or maitre d. If you find a wait staff you like, and if you ask, the hostess will try to assign you a table in that wait staff's assigned section. The best hostesses, and most of them are very good, will remember you and your cabin number when you approach their podium if you are a repeat diner in one venue. We are late diners for the sole purpose of seeing the 7pm shows. That works for us. It's tight if, like the OP, you want to eat early and then see the 7pm shows. It would be nice if main dining hours started at 5 or 5:30pm to accommodate a more relaxed early dining experience for early diners wanting to see the 7pm show. Optionally, you can eat early and then stay up for the 9pm show.

Specialty restaurants: Well, our fave, Murano, is not on Edge Class ships. TBH, the specialty restaurant up-charge on Edge Class may not provide a better dining experience than the 4  main dining restaurants. JMO. YMMV.... and your experience by ship will also vary but is, for the most part, consistently great. Fine Cuts is very good but too much food for us. We've seen Le Petit Chef - it's a fun one time experience. I actually like Raw on 5. You can usually walk in at any time if you get the urge but, again, why? On the plus side, I've never found it to be very busy. It's an ala-cart menu and IMO, affordable/not over-priced. Forget dining on the Magic Carpet unless you are in port and it's not raining or windy. I've found that bar and dining innovation to be off-putting. Again, JMO. You can also walk into Le Grand Bistro. Nice but nothing special, rarely busy, a nice lunch option with a Frenchy al-cart menu. Eden is indeed very nice. We've experienced both excellent and not up to par dining experiences in Eden though. It takes just one of these to make you think twice about paying a specialty dining up charge.

Blue and Luminae are dining venues for Aqua and Suite Class guests respectively. We don't book Aqua Class at all and can't comment on Blue - it looks appealing. We booked suites twice, dined at Luminae and found it noisy and trying too hard to be special and upscale. You don't like lines? They form at Luminae all the time. No reservations! Strange. Very off-putting, IMO. The retreat was over-crowded on ships sailing at cabin capacity and you paid a ton extra for that privilege. Think carefully about booking a suite when you can do two cruises in a Balcony for the price of the least expensive of suites - the Sky Suite - with the dubious special privilege's of dining at a noisy, not very special, supposedly exclusive restaurant and fighting the crowds at the main pool while at a small Retreat area pool area with a limited number of lounge chairs.

Here's a decent but, as usual, not a great read on Celebrity's supposedly only Edge Class dining dining. There's a section on Murano which isn't on Edge Class ships. Go figure.

https://www.celebritycruises.com/blog/celebrity-select-dining

PS: the Entertainment venues on Edge class ships are, again, unique and innovative. Yes, the main theater is small. People line up early to get seats they want - usually the best ones for viewing the stage. But, the LED screens, theater in the round, and the Broadway quality of the production shows, to me, are worth going early and lining up. There are usually three of them on each cruise of 7d or more. The Club on deck 4 mid-ship, hosts  production shows as well and lines form an hour early for those usually late in the evening shows in this venue. It holds maybe 150 people and there are only a hand-full of really good seats close to the performing area. There are usually two, sometimes more of these per 7d cruise. Eden hosts production staff shows too. Once more, guests grab the best seats close to the performance area an hour to 90 minutes early. Once again, worth the wait if you want to experience production dancers, singers, aerialists and acrobats (a separate cast from those doing the production shows in the main theater) doing their stuff within a few feet of where you're seated. Exhilarating and the performers seem to thrive on this kind of intimate performing. Usually, only one of these per 7d cruise. Worth staying up late and going early. Relax and have a pre-show drink!

Ok, so I'm booked on Beyond for next May. I picked early 6pm. I get assigned one of the four dinning rooms and have to go to it every night? Or if I want to try them all, just show up other nights at 6pm at the others? 

[JeffB]

My advice is to change your dining selection to Select Any Time via your TA or, if you booked on line, call Celebrity. This way you can show up at whatever restaurant you like on day one. With Fixed dining, you'll get an assigned restaurant from one of the four on the first night. If you like it, stick around. If you don't or just want to cycle though all four of them. Find a time when the hostess isn't busy and ask to switch to another restaurant or call the number for the restaurant manager and request a change. You might find they try to talk you out of changing. Be persistent.

You may get an assigned restaurant via a card in your cabin for the first night even if you select Any Time dining. The Restaurant managers do that to spread out guests on the first night. After that you can go wherever and whenever you want. Another tip: make a pre-cruise reservation at a specialty restaurant the first night of your cruise. That way you avoid the typical confusion of guests at the various dining venues on night one. Also, if you anticipate you're going to splurge for specialty dining, book a dining package pre-cruise. Nearly a year out, you should get a good deal on a dining package. Maybe even better, watch for prices to drop for the package as the cruise gets closer and the ships restaurant managers aren't getting enough pre-cruise bookings. These discounts might only last for a day or two so, if you see a discount, grab it. On today's front page of the RCL blog's main page, there's a good article on doing that very thing to save money on specialty restaurants that have experienced large price increases for entry post pandemic.  

[Last Lion]

If you have fixed dining in one restaurant, does that mean the same dining partners or just a guarantee to be able to walk in and sit at the reservation time?

Can you see the menus for the other three restaurants to maybe have a main course from one of them brought in to your restaurant?