2023 Customer Appreciation Cruise
The Customer Appreciation Cruise is an event our customers look forward to every year, and Haley was excited for the fun this year as well! She joined our President, Stephen Tobin, along with 160 fellow Yankee Trails travelers for this annual cruise with Celebrity Cruises, this time on the Apex! You might remember reading about Haley’s experience on Apex’s inaugural cruise in November 2021, catch up on that here if you missed it, and prepare to be inspired to book next year’s after reading this!
We kicked off this year’s Customer Appreciation Cruise from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Cruises that leave from this port are always fairly easy to navigate- the airport is just minutes from the port, and there are plenty of hotel options nearby that make traveling to and from the port very easy. Everyone from our group was coming from The Villages, Florida and had an easy morning taking the Cruise Express down to Fort Lauderdale.
When we made it onto the ship we headed straight to our stateroom to put our bags down; it was located on the 11th deck and was in the Concierge Class. We had a stateroom with an infinite veranda, allowing us to have expansive views from our room, and a balcony whenever we felt like it. I love the infinite veranda option that is offered on all Edge Class ships.
Being in the Concierge Class, we had a few extra perks included with our stateroom, including a Concierge Class lunch on embarkation day, a complimentary bottle of champagne, a complimentary plate of assorted snacks every afternoon, a dedicated concierge and more. These added touches made our stay even better!
After we settled into our room, we set out to explore the ship. The Apex has a double occupancy of 2,910 passengers, 29 different dining, bar and lounge options, as well as plenty of entertainment options for guests as well. For lunch, we grabbed some food from the Oceanview Cafe, which is the buffet onboard, before heading out to the sundeck to relax and wait for sailaway.
Traveling with a group has its perks, and one of those perks is group dining. Each night onboard, the group dined together in one of the four main dining restaurants, Cosmopolitan. All four main dining restaurants have the same rotating menu each night, and each restaurant then has its own specialty dishes that are only offered at that restaurant.
Each restaurant has its own feel, and you have the ability to choose which dining room you go to each night, if you want to try them all out. Cosmopolitan has a classic feel, with new American and global influences guiding the menu. Normandie has a modern French feel, Cyprus channels Celebrity Cruise Line’s Greek roots with a mediterranean-inspired atmosphere and menu and Tuscan takes its inspiration from Italian fashion and film. We dined with the group at Cosmopolitan multiple nights, and enjoyed Normandie one night and found every meal truly delicious with incredible service from waitstaff.
In addition to the main dining options, there are other options for dining as well! Luminae at the Retreat is a restaurant only available to guests of The Retreat and has menu changes daily with options that can’t be found anywhere else on the ship. Blu is another exclusive restaurant on the ship, this time exclusive for Aquaclass guests. Guests who are part of Aquaclass have rooms that are closer to the spa and fitness center onboard, and have access to lighter, healthier (but still incredibly delicious) options at Blu.
There are also a plethora of specialty restaurants onboard the Apex that are an extra charge but are definitely worth the visit- and have something for everyone! A Fine Cut Steakhouse is the place to go for delicious cuts of meat and seafood options. Le Grand Bistro is inspired by classic French bistros and turns into Le Petit Chef at night, which entertains diners with an animated cooking show right on your plate for each course! I had the pleasure of dining at Le Petit Chef on the Celebrity Reflection last year and it is truly a dining experience that cannot be missed.
Raw on 5 is the perfect place for seafood lovers on the Apex. The restaurant has offerings of sushi and sashimi crafted by expert chefs, lobster rolls, shrimp salad and more. The Rooftop Garden Grill is (you guessed it) located in the Rooftop Garden and gives you the most ideal al fresco dining experience. We had the opportunity to dine here one night during the cruise and it was the best! There are grilled classics here like burgers, steaks and more barbecue favorites with delicious sides and desserts.
Eden is a luscious, plant-filled escape located on the very back of the ship and is special because during the day it offers complimentary breakfast and lunch, but in the evening it turns into a specialty dining restaurant. Eden takes you on a culinary journey throughout your meal and is a can’t miss specialty dining opportunity on the Apex.
Eden really has it all- breakfast, lunch, dinner and then it turns into an entertainment lounge and bar in the evening. The bar has some delicious craft beverages available that pair well with the entertainment you might find there, including playful and interactive shows.
As we mentioned, during breakfast and lunch hours, Eden is a complimentary option for passengers onboard. Some other complimentary dining locations available for anyone to dine at include the Oceanview Cafe buffet, the Mast Grill located poolside (and perfect for your poolside lunch,) and the Spa Cafe has refreshing, spa-inspired, healthier fare.
The Oceanview Cafe is a popular place for breakfast and lunch and has a ton of different options with food from all around the world. Omelet stations, delicious pastries and classic breakfast favorites (and more) make up the breakfast buffet, while lunch has salads, sandwiches, protein options and much more available. The Oceanview Cafe is also the place for your late night snacks, being open late into the night and also having a pizza station open until the wee hours of the morning.
There are a lot of amazing places to eat on the Apex, but there’s plenty of great places to grab drinks too! A highlight of any Celebrity Cruise ship is the martini bar. This bar is located in the Grand Plaza under a giant LED chandelier that offers nightly shows that include the chandelier, bartenders and martinis, of course. This space has very comfortable seating, has live music often and is a great place to relax and enjoy your cruise. Many of our other fellow cruisers felt the same way, as this place was full of guests quite often.
Another bar close by to the Grand Plaza is Craft Social. This bar gives a sports bar feel, with large monitors playing games around the clock. The NFL playoffs were on during our cruise, and this is where we (and many others) caught the games (if we didn’t watch on the big screen up on the Rooftop.) One night we stopped here to get dinner and ordered some of the appetizers offered. The charcuterie board, wings and truffle fries were delicious and so good to snack on if you’re hanging out here with friends and family.
The Magic Carpet doesn’t have one single location on the ship, as this bar is the iconic orange box you see floating up and down the side of the Apex. On any given day, this bar can be between decks five and fifteen and offer you a comfortable place to relax while you enjoy a drink with immaculate views.
The Pool Bar, the Sunset Bar, the Retreat Pool Bar. and if you’re lucky- the Magic Carpet all offer you the opportunity to sip on a drink poolside in the sun and are all located outside on the upper decks of the ship. For the coffee lovers onboard, Cafe Al Bacio is the perfect place for you to grab your morning (or afternoon or evening) pick me up at this specialty coffee bar!
When it’s not time to get a bite to eat on the ship, there is so much else to do! The sundeck on the Apex is always the place to be on a sea day. The pool is surrounded by loungers and has loungers that sit in the water too. This deck has cabanas that you can rent for the day that have comfortable couches and shade to relax in. Go up one deck and you find the second story of the sundeck, along with the jogging track.
During days at sea, the activities team onboard the Apex have a lot of fun poolside activities planned. We watched pool olympics one afternoon, pool volleyball another afternoon and even some water zumba.
If sitting on the sundeck isn’t your thing, the Solarium may be more your vibe. The Solarium is adults-only and is flooded with sunlight and balmy warmth and has comfortable loungers to spend your day in. There’s a pool and multiple whirlpools inside the solarium to enjoy, and it’s a calm, serene space to spend your day.
If you’re looking to get active on the cruise, the fitness center is located in the front of the ship above the spa. There are plenty of treadmills, ellipticals, machines and weights to workout with, in addition to Peloton bikes that you can reserve and workout classes that you can sign up for as well.
The Spa on the ship is a stunning place to spend your time. The Sea Thermal Suite has eight different therapeutic experiences that you can spend your time relaxing in. Members of the Aquaclass have unlimited access to this while on their cruise, and passes for the thermal suite can also be purchased by other guests. The Spa has plenty of different treatments to get as well, including massages, facials and medspa treatments.
The entertainment on the Apex was incredible- we had something fun to do every night! The Theatre had three amazing production shows that we went and saw on different nights along our journey. Crystallize, Rockumentary and Tree of Life were all so very different, but so very entertaining! Crystallize was artistic and blended pop music with beautiful choreography and stunts, Rockumentary brought the audience on a classic rock journey through the years with some of the most notable artists of all time and Tree of Life was a tale through the seasons with different musical stories to go along with each season. The Theatre has incredible technology with a giant screen that immerses the entire audience in each show, it was amazing.
Even when there weren't production shows happening, The Theatre had other acts that entertained us just as much. The comedian onboard the ship was great and kept us laughing through his entire set. He had one set the first night of the trip and then he had a second set on one of our last nights, and he covered a lot of relatable content for the audience which made him even funnier.
There were lots of entertaining game shows planned around the ship, and from The Theatre to the Club, there was no shortage of trivia, group game shows and audience interactive shows. One night we participated in group trivia which covered everything from movies, to food, to facts about Celebrity Cruises. Another night we watched a group game similar to the game memory, where teams had to make the right pairings in order to win. Another night in The Theatre was an adults-only game show called Frisky Feud which was similar to Family Feud, but had more adult topics, it was one of the funniest shows on our cruise!
One benefit of traveling with a group on a cruise like the Customer Appreciation Cruise is the cocktail party! We had a cocktail party for the group on the second day of the cruise where our group could come together to meet up, chat with us and learn more about the cruise itinerary and more. A private space was reserved for our group with waiters passing complimentary cocktails and hor d'oeuvres for everyone while we played some fun group games for prizes, all led by Stephen.
This was an Eastern Caribbean Cruise, so the ports of call that we were visiting were San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tortola, British Virgin Islands and Basseterre, St. Kitts and each were so pretty to visit and even more fun to explore!
After a full day and a half at sea, we called on San Juan, Puerto Rico first. We docked around 3:30 p.m. and had to be back to the ship at 9:30 p.m., so there wasn’t too much time to explore everything (it just means we have to go back!) but with the time we did have, we stopped for dinner at a local restaurant that was within walking distance of the ship. The restaurant was charming on the inside and out and served delicious food and drinks. After dinner, we walked around Old San Juan a bit more and did some window shopping before heading back to the ship.
The next day we woke up in the British Virgin Islands, docked at the island of Tortola. We had an excursion planned that day to spend an afternoon at the Virgin Gorda Baths. The port had some small shops and restaurants to visit, so we spent some time exploring and getting some food and drinks before meeting for our excursion right next to the ship at 12:45 p.m.
Our excursion started with a 30 minute boat ride to the island where the Virgin Gorda Baths are, on the way to the island the excursion leaders told us the history of the islands and fun facts about them. When we arrived at the island, we loaded into some open air trucks to make our way to the Virgin Gorda Baths.
Getting to the Baths involved a short and pretty easy hike; it took about 15 minutes to hike down to the first beach that had rock formations. We spent some time exploring all the rocks and swimming in the ocean. The weather was perfect and the water was so refreshing to take a dip in.
After about an hour at this beach, it was time to start hiking through the caves and rock formations to get to the final beach. This was a very cool experience, and at the end of the cave hike the tour guides took pictures for everyone. After this, we had about an hour to hang out at the beach, get some food and drinks from the beachside restaurant if we wanted to, and then we headed back to the ship. Exploring these gorgeous Baths was such a fantastic way to spend the day, we would fully recommend this excursion to anyone heading to Tortola!
Our final port of call was Basseterre, St. Kitts, and it was a beautiful day! The view out of our veranda was mountainous land, colorful buildings and crystal clear blue water and a fun day was ahead with our kayaking and snorkeling excursion.
Our excursion started at 8:15 am, so we woke up early for some breakfast before getting off the ship and meeting the excursion group before hopping into a shuttle to meet up with our kayaking and snorkeling tour guides. On the way over, our shuttle driver gave us some facts and history of St. Kitts as we drove through the beautiful tropical island.
Halfway through the drive, we stopped at a lookout point that had one of the most beautiful views I had ever seen. On one side, you see the ocean and mountains, and our driver explained to us that in the distance you can see where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Caribbean, it was so beautiful. On the other side of the lookout, you see where the beautiful resorts and colorful buildings meet the ocean’s edge. We spent some time taking in these views and snapping some photos before getting back in the shuttle and finishing our journey to the kayaking and snorkeling beach.
When we arrived at the beach, our guides greeted us and told us some pointers for kayaking before starting our journey. We set off on our adventure and spent about 15-20 minutes kayaking through the ocean before making it to an alcove where we beached our kayaks and started snorkeling. On the excursion, there were kayaking experts and novices alike, and everyone had an easy time navigating the waters and making it to the alcove.
Our guides gave us some pointers on snorkeling, then passed out all the equipment before we got going. The alcove we snorkeled in had a lot of plants, coral and sea life. Early on while snorkeling, we came across a sea turtle who was peacefully swimming along, and it was so amazing to see. We watched him glide along the ocean floor before heading out into the open ocean. Our guide dove down and found some starfish, conch shells and sea sponges for us to look at. We left the alcove and kept snorkeling further into the ocean, where we saw so many colorful fish and some people in our group saw a manta ray, and on our way back into the alcove we saw another sea turtle, which was the perfect treat to end the snorkeling part of the day.
After getting back on the beach, we hopped back into our kayaks and started our journey back to the beach. Once we made it back to the beach, the guides offered us refreshing drinks and local snacks before we loaded back into the shuttle and headed back to the port.
Once we made it back to the port, we looked around the many shops there, did some souvenir shopping and then stopped to grab some food. There were restaurants scattered around the port, along with an entire area with bars and food booths where we grabbed some snacks.
Our guides on this excursion, and the people of St. Kitts were incredibly nice and welcoming, and made us feel very at home on that little island. Overall, we loved St. Kitts and our excursion on the island and would absolutely go back in the future!
The Customer Appreciation Cruise never disappoints, there is always so much fun to be had on Celebrity ships, and the company around us on the cruise is even better. We had an absolute blast on our week in the Eastern Caribbean on the Apex, and would do it again in a heartbeat!
The good news is, we will do it all over again next year, but this time on the brand new Celebrity Ascent, set to make her debut on the high seas at the end of 2023, and our cruise set to depart at the end of January 2024.
To learn more about 2024’s Customer Appreciation Cruise and to book your spot on the trip, visit our website.