I had the amazing opportunity of sailing on the magnificent Celebrity APEX ship from Cork to Belfast after winning a place in the competition that Travel Weekly – Celebrity for Beginners held.
This was my first experience on a cruise, and I found that it was a real eye-opener the world of cruising life.
Day 1:
As soon as we stepped on board the Apex, we were instantly greeted by friendly and fantastic service from the staff, helping in any way they could from directing us to our rooms or giving advice on where best to visit on the ship first. My cabin – an Infinite Veranda Stateroom located on Deck 7, room 7135 on the forward of the ship, consisted of a spacious outdoor seating area at the touch of a button, a large dressing table with a mounted wall mirror, a queen-sized bed, a sofa, and shower.
We had lunch in the Oceanview Café, which was the most amazing buffet I had ever seen with a huge range of different cuisines to try. I will say the desserts were my favourite being so colourful and tasteful.
To start the trip off fully we had a special cocktail party hosted by the group concierge and Celebrity with a variety of coloured cocktails being served. We then followed the evening by dining at the Normandie restaurant, which is one of the 5 main dining restaurants on the Apex. The variety of choices on the menu – from the Normandie specials, top choices, and classic menu (which is optional in all restaurants). I had the fillet steak (for the main) which was cooked to perfection and the chocolate cake for dessert. The level of excellent service continued throughout the whole dining experience.
To end the first evening, we ventured over to “The Club” where we caught the end of the Caravan, which was a circus variety show, then followed on by a “ABBA Gimme Gimme Gimme More” music themed night which got all the guests up dancing and singing along to the ABBA classics. The Club holds a variety of shows through the late afternoons and evenings appealing to all guests on board.
DAY 2:
We started off the day with a breakfast buffet in the Oceanview café – which had a variety of pastries, fresh fruit, cereal, yogurts and much more to suit everyone’s tastes. With a variety of drinks: teas, coffees, and juices available to all guests. Staff were on hand to come around to take any orders for specific drinks and tables were cleared instantly.
That morning we had a seminar about Celebrity and what the Apex ship has to offer – where the Group Concierge Manager, Future Cruise Manager and Spa manager came to speak to the group about their experience working for Celebrity, background stories and how each of the ships are different to each other when they rotate round them on their new contracts.
Following on from this we had a tour of the ship – where we were taken around the spa by Stuart who explained everything the spa had to offer and what treatments were available and seeing a variety of different staterooms available on board – inside, sunset balcony, veranda stateroom and concierge class staterooms, however, they also have Penthouses, villas, and iconic suites. We also toured around some of the other facilities the ship had to offer – the solarium (adults-only pool), Magic Carpet bar, and Mast grill located next to the outside pool.
We were then taken on a guided tour of the bridge by the apprentice deck officer called Sam who explained how all the mechanics and computer systems work together in sailing/steering the ship and getting the ship to safely dock in port. Listening to the officer talk about everything that is involved in the processes were amazing and to see how they control everything was a real eye-opener to the mechanics behind the scenes.
About mid-afternoon, we had the rest of the day at leisure where I and some of the other agents went to relax in the solarium located on deck 14 and jacuzzi tubs available on deck 15. After this, myself and a group of agents went and dined at the Cosmopolitan restaurant, where we were waited on by Andy who provided outstanding service throughout the 3-course meals we opted for. The menu had a variety of choices available, with Cosmo specials optional – this time I had opted for the homemade tomato soup (starter), chicken fillet garlic & herb Kiev with vegetables (main) and chocolate cake with ice cream (dessert).
After the meal, we ventured over to one of the other bars available on the ship called “Eden” (located on deck 15) where a variety of music was played and waiters were available to continuously take drinks orders.
DAY 3:
On day 3 we had a day of leisure till mid-afternoon, where we explored more of the ship venturing between the decks and even outside past all the lifeboats, which surprisingly held a larger number of guests, more than I had originally thought. Through our exploring we found: the art gallery with a variety of paintings, figures, and artworks on display, the sports bar called “Craft social bar” and the Roof Top Garden bar. We then had an end of seminar meeting to discuss how we found the cruise, the ship, service and the experience as a whole.
That evening we all had gone to our cabins to get ready for the formal night available on the ship, where we had a drink in the Grand Plaza at the “Martini Bar” and took a couple of group photos together. We then travelled back up to the Normandie restaurant for a farewell dinner with all the agents and celebrity staff who were a part of the seminar. After the meal, we attended a pub quiz at the “Eden”, to which our group won! We then ventured back over to “The club” for a few more cocktails and started talking to the guest contractor entertainers’ “Shamrocks Tenors” – an Irish folk & harmony band from Belfast. They talked about how they came to be entertainers for Celebrity and the ships they have sung on and their favourite destinations.
Day 4:
Disembarkation for our group was on this day and it was such a smooth stress-free process. We headed back to the Oceanview café for once last buffet breakfast, before heading back to our cabins to gather our luggage and head down to the guest relations to close our accounts on our cards. After this, we then disembarked the ship and headed to our coach for a group transfer back to the airport and got a flight back home.
I would happily sail on a Celebrity cruise again and highly recommend it to anyone wanting a luxury feel to their cruise. The level of fantastic service we had throughout the whole sail and the uniqueness of each restaurant, bar or location on the ship is something I can’t speak stop speaking about.
It truly is a Luxury Resort at Sea!
