Celebrity Cruises — Attraction in Miami

The Celebrity Apex was an amazing ship! This newer ship is ultra modern and very elegant. The layout is easy to navigate, and the decor is gorgeous!

I enjoyed the premium beverage package which included champagne, fresh squeezed juices (found at the spa cafe), and upgraded liquor. This package certainly allows the opportunity to relax and order off the bar, coffee bar, restaurants, and spa cafe menus without giving a second thought as to what you might be accumulating in additional fees. There may be situations where you pay a small fee for an elevated version of a beverage, as I found in Eden restaurant with the exotic craft cocktails, but at $2 more this was nothing to be concerned about and well worth the price.

The main bar in the lobby of the shop is gorgeous and very eye catching. The illuminated columns change colors and are synced with the music. The bartenders really put the effort in to provide A+ service and put on an energetic show. Live entertaining is featured, and a large, elegant Christmas tree covered in lights is set up just off the dance floor for the holidays (just after Thanksgiving for my trip). A beautiful backdrop for photos. The silent disco also took place in this area on some nights.

The coffee bars are always a joy to visit (on deck 4 and 14 near the buffet). A never ending availability of options to order as far as drink types. The creamer, alcohol and syrup options give you plenty of ways to concoct your own exotic beverage. I highly recommend the Aspen Coffee!

The food options were excellent; the buffet on deck 14 always had an abundance of fresh food with great variety and quite a bit of seafood. Servers would stop by and take beverage orders as you dined which I found to be very convenient.

Although the standard restaurant options all provided for an amazing dining experience. I highly recommend upgrading and trying Eden which I found to be my absolute favorite meal on the ship. The lobster was by far the best I have ever tasted, and the butterscotch crème brûlée was by far the best dessert on the ship. The Sommelier was a delight and extremely personable and helpful.

La Petit Chef was also not to be missed! The projections are so well executed and charming, and the way each food course was presented was like art. Delicious meal!

Be aware that with the standard restaurants that you can order items enjoyed in one location at another if not present on the menu (ex. Dining at Cosmopolitan and you wish for the Saganaki enjoyed at Cyprus). We were very pleased with all of the menu items at each location. We typically dined in a group of 5 and ordered several plates to share to sample as many items as possible which I highly recommend. We felt the meals were made with exceptional gourmet quality ingredients and cooked to perfection. We did not dine at Blu was this was reserved for the Aqua level guests, but have to praise the gorgeous decor!

The pool was very well laid out. We were fortunate enough to always secure a lounger, and the submerged loungers were fantastic! We loved Richard and Pizzaro at the pool bar; always full of energy and ready to greet you with a smile. The Magic Carpet was such an enjoyable spot for a drink which I highly recommend. The elevated hot tubs are available for all guests (some were confused and thought that due to the entrance on 15 that you needed to be a retreat guest which was not the case.).

The Club was wonderful and provided for a great way to continue the fun into the later hours. Plenty of couches for lounging and people watching or socializing, while the dance floor was always inviting while the DJ spun a variety of genres of music.

We also had fun hiding “Cruising Ducks” (if you are not aware of this tradition, do look it up; it is another way to make the experience memorable for others).

Overall, I would absolutely recommend this beautiful ship. By far the most memorable and enjoyable vacation I have taken to date. I am now hooked on Celebrity and looking forward to booking...

I should first begin by stating that we are HUGE Celebrity fans and sail quite a bit with Celebrity over the years ( Elite Plus status). We boarded Edge with excitement; looking forward to a great experience that we have come to expect from Celebrity. Sadly, after the first day it IMMEDIATELY becomes apparent that the overall design of the ship is a MISS for any suite/retreat guests. Although Luminae, The Retreat Lounge and The Retreat are all located in a very convenient area for suite guests (we booked the Penthouse suite). This is the ONLY positive with regard to spending the extra money for The Retreat class of cabins. Where to start...... Luminae is so over crowded and impossible to get a table without having to fight crowds or wait for 30 minutes. Once seated, it is so noisy that you may as well be eating at the Oceanview cafe. Because there are SO MANY guests in Luminae at any given time, the service is very spotty. No sense of exclusivity or refined experience there. The Retreat lounge has been "converted" into a cafeteria. Seating at a lunch table for 10 is an option if that is your expectation of a "Suite Lounge experience". Yes, there are some seating areas that allow 2-4 people to visit while having an evening cocktail, but these seating areas are all lined up in a very mechanical method so as to provide no sense of privacy at all. Maximum seating/capacity was the design goal here. .. Mission accomplished.. Again, at cocktail time, there are SO MANY guests that the poor servers are overwhelmed and the guests are left waiting to be noticed in hopes of getting a cocktail or a glass of wine. .. a very Carnival Cruise Lines experience.. (If you are going to create a "common area" that houses so many guests.. perhaps a few more servers might be wise?). Dinner at Fine Cut Steak House is another "experience". Although the food was very good, the service left quite a bit to be desired. Perhaps the worst thing is that this restaurant (and indeed most all other specialty restaurants) are all open to the common area in which the evening "entertainment" plays .. so.. if you are looking for a peaceful dining experience with great conversation with friends and family, you are out of luck as you will be fighting the noise levels of club music and whatever happens to be on the play list of the featured band that is practicing in public that evening. In short, if you are expecting the same Suite/Retreat experience as you have had the pleasure of enjoying on other smaller Celebrity Ships, sadly, you are out of luck on this class of ship.. A TOTAL MISS for guests with any expectation of that special or refined experience with attention to detail that you've come to expect from Celebrity in this booking class. Don't waste your hard earned money booking into a suite/retreat class cabin, just pay for a regular cabin, basically, you will have the same experience.

In addition, .. and probably MOST IMPORTANTLY... even after having made our displeasure and concerns known to the concierge staff (which were most empathetic), NOT ONE OFFICER OR MANAGER has bothered to contact us.. NOT ONE.

Sadly, as an Elite Plus passenger (and a travel agent), I cannot recommend this "experience" to those looking to receive a "suite...

We've sailed with Celebrity 3 times so far. Our first cruise was with Carnival to the Med, which was great. We chose Celebrity for our second cruise because we thought they'd have better customer service, and the third time it was because we had a credit from the last cruise due to stateroom cleanliness.

MILLENNIUM: We took a 12 night cruise on the Mediterranean that started in Barcelona and ended in Venice. The ship was 7 years old at the time, and did show its age.

Stateroom Our Concierge Class balcony stateroom in general was dirty on our first day. The bathroom already had a smell of urine (after 4 cruises, I know it has something to do with the plumbing in ships.) Fingerprints on the closet doors, dirty mirrors, dirty bed skirts. It just felt gross. The handle for the sofa pullout bed was broken on one side and hanging. We brought the issue up to our stateroom attendant who tried his best to clean but my partner ended up cleaning the room himself since they can't seem to do a good job. Oddly enough, the public areas are spic n span, and they overwhelm your with squirts of hand sanitizer.

ECLIPSE: Our second cruise with Celebrity was to the Baltic for a 14 night stay. We started and ended in Liverpool. This ship was only 1 year old and it was beautiful.

Stateroom We had another Concierge Class balcony room. And guess what, it was dirty upon check in. Same issues as on the Millennium and same procedure followed. This is how we got a credit and why we sailed with them again in 2013.

SOLSTICE Our third cruise with Celebrity was for 7 nights to Alaska. The 5 year old ship was in pretty good condition. Unfortunately the martini ice bar was broken and wasn't on the entire time.

Stateroom We booked an Aqua Class balcony stateroom this time to see what al the fuss was about. The 2 perks you get is free use of the spa's Persian Garden which includes the relaxation room, showers, and steam room, and dining in the Blu specialty restaurant. Unfortunately again, the stateroom was dirty. Same thing again and again, which is why we're not looking at them for our next cruise. Too bad they can't get this through their heads.

EQUINOX: This was my fourth cruise with Celebrity. So far, so good. My only gripe is that some staff have accused and mistook me of being a crew member because of my mix of Asian & Native Hawaiian ancestries. Sounds innocent but it gets old after a while. We did a 7-night Western Caribbean cruise (Miami, Key West, Costa Maya, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Miami).

Stateroom: We stayed in number 1585 which is on deck 11 in the Aqua Class (priority boarding, use of Persian Garden spa, exclusive dining in Blu Restaurant and a few other perks). A lack of charging ports is a big downfall on this ship. Only three are available (two at the desk, one in the bathroom). We were greeted with a non-emptied trash bin and food wrapped in a napkin in the mini refrigerator. The a/c also wasn't strong but was fairly comfortable. Bottles of water were replenished daily.

OVERALL: Mostly good service and cuisine; the main reasons why we book...