Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Apex review – everything you need to know

Lifestyle

There’s never a dull moment on this ship. If you’re not off exploring on land there’s a full itinerary that you can dip in and out of, starting with a free morning stretch class in the gym’s studio at 7am, free dance classes, quizzes, volley-ball and other popular competitions around the pool plus live music.

Although the well-equipped sea-view gym is free to use there are also paid-for classes, such as slow flow yoga and Ryde indoor cycling with less strenuous paid-for activities elsewhere on the ship such as tasting sessions for wine, Martini and even Jack Daniel’s whiskey.

The Kelly Hoppen-designed spa, called SEA, has a good range of paid-for beauty treatments and massages (watch out for special offers on the first day plus port days) and there’s also a gorgeous paid-for SEA Thermal Suite with a hammam, steam mist room, crystalarium, salt therapy room and more. As passes are limited you need to book early.

Camp At Sea is the free children’s club on deck three, with a teenagers’room on deck two. Both have good entertainment programmes but the ship has few children onboard outside school holidays and it would be fair to say that couples and adult groups are more of a focus for Celebrity Cruises.

Excursions are available and while these are not cheap they are worth considering, particularly on Caribbean islands where there is little to do or sea in the port town. 

On the cruise I was on, for instance, there were just a few British colonial buildings to see at Basseterre, on St Kitts & Nevis, and at Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands, but ship excursions would get you safely to the rainforest, beaches or tours – and, crucially, back in time for the ship’s departure.

There are always exceptions, though, and you can easily explore San Juan on Puerto Rico by yourself, from where ships dock in the old town.