The cruise industry says a cruise trip is safer than other vacations right now. But let’s be real, is a cruise trip really safe? My mom and I were recently invited to attend the inaugural launch of Royal Caribbean’s brand new ship, the Celebrity Apex and following is my honest assessment of the pros and cons of a cruise trip right now. This blog will walk through all the things you need to know if you are considering a cruise trip in this pandemic environment!

What is the difference between Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises?

Celebrity Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida and a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group. Celebrity Cruises was founded in 1988 by the Greece-based Chandris Group, and merged with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in 1997.

What is the Celebrity Apex?

Celebrity Apex is an Edge-class cruise ship operated by Celebrity Cruises, a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Constructed in France, she is the second vessel in the company’s Edge class of ships, following the delivery of her sister ship, Celebrity Edge, in 2018. The Apex was supposed to sail in 2020 but due to the pandemic, the launch was postponed to 2021 in the United States. It sailed for the first time in the United States from Ft. Lauderdale on October 31st, 2021 to the Bahamas.

What are the rooms like aboard the Celebrity Apex?

For your cruise trip, you can choose from several types of rooms within The Retreat (all inclusive Suites) & Staterooms.

Suites

1. Iconic Suites: 1,892 sq.ft. Veranda 689 sq.ft. Positioned high above the bridge, these all-new suites offer panoramic views from front to back. And with over 2,500 square feet of indoor and outdoor opulence, Iconic Suites are also the most luxurious and largest in this fleet.
2. Penthouse Suites: 1,378 sq.ft. Veranda 197 sq.ft. Featuring a primary bedroom, bathroom, and dressing room, living/dining area, guest bedroom, bathroom, terrace, and private hot tub, the Penthouse Suites even have a Personal Retreat Host on hand.
3. Edge Villas: 739 sq.ft. Veranda 211 sq.ft. These six, two-story luxury residences are the first of their kind in the fleet. Each offers a spacious 950 square feet of split-level splendor, plus one bedroom and two bathrooms—perfect for up to four guests. In these private oceanfront villas, indoor and outdoor living is seamlessly blended, with two stories of windows that look out over the terrace and plunge pool to the incredible views beyond.
4. Royal Suite: 687 sq.ft Veranda 72 sq.ft. Unwind in a luxuriously large living and dining area featuring floor to ceiling panoramic windows, a primary bedroom with Celebrity’s eXhale® bedding featuring the luxury king-size Cashmere™ Mattress, a primary bathroom with a large soaking tub, a separate shower, and a double sink vanity, and a spacious private veranda. No matter where you are in this suite, you’ll enjoy stunning views of the sea.
5. Celebrity Suite: 401 sq.ft Veranda 100 sq ft. These two-room suites feature a large living area with floor to ceiling panoramic windows, private veranda, and a primary bedroom with a king-size Cashmere Mattress featuring eXhale bedding.
6. Sky Suite: 319 sq ft Veranda 89 sq ft. The perfectly designed Sky Suite offers a blend of expansive views and intimate luxury. These large suites feature a king-size bed with a signature Cashmere Mattress and a spacious, private veranda. The split bathroom features a large spa tub with shower.

Sky Suite Review

The room

For our cruise trip, my mom and I were given the sky suite which we found plenty spacious for our stay. The room has a living area with sofa plus a large king bed, a small dressing table with mirror and stool, and a wide counter with multiple drawers that we found really handy to store our bags and coats in. The nightstands also have doorless drawers which I found super helpful to store some books and night stuff out of sight. There is a television in the room plus turn down service which includes chocolate. What’s not to like?! I HIGHLY recommend the sky suite.

Bathroom

The bathroom is very spacious with a large spa tub and shower with a private attached toilet with a door. We were really impressed with the bathroom space, it rivaled that of a luxury resort bathroom!

Balcony

The balcony is huge and simply delightful as it was so nice to be able to sit out there for sunrise/sunset or to enjoy a glass of champagne in the afternoons in the privacy of your own deck while on a cruise trip. Floor to ceiling sliding glass doors give you an incredible view from anywhere in your room.

Staterooms

There are several options should you choose to stay in one of the staterooms for your cruise trip. Many have a private balcony, so take a look here to see some of the options.

What are the pros of staying in a suite on a cruise trip?

One of the reasons I recommend the suites for your cruise trip is because of the level of luxury you get with this type of a room. Imagine access to a private restaurant (Luminae), and an exclusive lounge and sundeck that rival any high-end resort. Your dedicated team of attendants, concierges, and your Personal Retreat Host will do everything to ensure you never have to lift a finger on vacation. I personally will get the sky suite again simply because I loved the size of the room, the bathroom and balcony – I never felt claustrophobic. In fact, I felt like I was in a luxury resort the entire time. A floating resort as many call it 🙂

What does the Celebrity Apex offer in terms of amenities?

Or rather, what does the Celebrity Apex NOT offer perhaps is the better question to ask.

1. Swimming pools: From a large outdoor swimming pool to a quieter indoor pool, the Apex has it all.
2. Hot tubs: I saw at least 2 hot tubs – one outdoors and one indoors
3. Lounges: Apex has several lounges if you want cocktails before dinner. I loved the Martini Bar – it’s got a stunning LED chandelier that features nightly choreographed light and flair bartending shows. I also really enjoyed the Eden bar – it has an indoor/outdoor space and the decor is…well…like what one might imagine the garden of Eden could look like 🙂
4. The Magic Carpet: The Magic Carpet is an open air lounge designed with comfortable seating, a full bar, and space for live music performances, so it truly is a destination in itself with gorgeous views of the ocean.
5. Restaurants: Apex has 29 restaurants, bars and lounges! I promise you will find something that you’ll like. The buffets have been stopped due to Covid, but servers will still be serving you food. If you truly want an experience, try the Le Petit Chef restaurant, which is another dining venue where you’ll see a fun, new 3-D digital experience. You have to go to fully understand the experience! It’s a treat for sure.
6. Gym: The gym looked top notch with 180 degree views of the ocean but I was too busy relaxing to work out 🙂
7. Spa: The spa is just incredible, for a minute I forgot I was on a cruise in the middle of the ocean. I had an incredible hour long acupuncture session that I highly recommend! I walked in with severe lower back pain and after the session my pain had almost disappeared!
8. The outdoors movie screen: Imagine watching a movie on the big screen with popcorn during the day or night in the open air? Blissful!
9. Casino: A Vegas style casino with over 148 table games!
10. Shopping: If you’re bored and want some retail therapy, the Apex has some high-end stores that await!

Covid requirements for cruise trip travel

Covid Test:

For this cruise trip, my mom and I flew from San Francisco to Ft. Lauderdale and spent the night before boarding the Celebrity Apex the following day to begin our sailing. We were required to take a covid test 48 hours before sailing and you cannot take the test on the same day as you board.

Vaccination Card:

We also needed to show our physical vaccination card before boarding for this cruise trip. My 70 year old vaccinated mom was almost denied boarding because her vaccination form (issued in India) only had the date of the final shot and the gate agents at the cruise terminal said they needed to see the dates of both shots. But Hotel Director Niyazi Korkmaz came in to save the day and said it was fine as long the vaccination card showed the date of the final shot!

Is it safe to go on a cruise trip?

I had the pleasure of chatting with CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo and Marketing SVP Michael Scheiner about the future of the cruise industry and cruise trips, including safety in this pandemic environment. According to Lisa, cruise travel couldn’t be any safer. Everyone remembers that when the pandemic first began in 2020, cruise travel was the worst place to be. But now that there are vaccines and tests available, here are some thing to consider about taking a cruise trip:

1. At the SeaTrade cruise conference last month in Miami Beach, the industry’s largest gathering, executives promoted their ships as the safest vacation option, based on the fact that they can mandate vaccines and testing, compared with vacations where travelers take airplanes, stay in hotels and dine at restaurants.
2. As stated in the Miami Herald, “Richard Fain, the CEO of Royal Caribbean, said, “Unlike almost any other place you can think of whether it’s restaurants, hotels, entertainment venues … we control the environment.””
3. “Arnold Donald, the CEO of Carnival Corporation, agreed, stating that their safety protocols were “much more rigorous than equivalent or similar land-based activities.””
4. In an interview with the Herald, “Tom McAlpin, the CEO of Virgin Voyages, Richard Branson’s newly launched cruise line, said that their cruises are “safer than a hotel, safer than the grocery store.””
5. According to the Herald, epidemiologists say enclosed environments, including cruises, are largely safe if every passenger and crew member is fully vaccinated, which is the case on the Celebrity Apex.
6. Each ship in the fleet is filled with 100% fresh, filtered air. At the center of how that’s made possible is the robust HVAC system—heating, ventilation and air conditioning—that continuously supplies clean air indoors by taking in and filtering the ocean air. This HVAC system and its multiple layers of filters and other features make it virtually impossible for aerosol particles (like those from a cough) to pass between spaces. And that’s certified by an independent assessment conducted on a Royal Caribbean ship, thanks to a team of scientists from the University of Nebraska Medical Center—a leader in coronavirus research and clinical trials—and the National Strategic Research Institute.

How risk averse are you?

At the end of the day, taking a cruise trip comes down to a personal decision based on how risk averse you are. My 70 year old mom and I discussed this cruise trip and she said because she’s vaccinated, tested 48 hours before the flight and because all the crew members were also vaccinated/tested she felt safe enough to take this calculated risk.

What to consider before signing up for a cruise trip

What you need to consider about a cruise trip is that when a ship docks at a port for a day excursion, people could contract a variant at the port. Also you are exposed to a greater number of people in a ship (for several days) as opposed to less people on a domestic flight to a destination with just a few of your friends or family vs. an entire shipload of people. I will argue however, that because my mom and I spent most of our time in outdoor lounges on this cruise trip, we felt pretty confident regarding safety. I was a little nervous about the indoor dining but there wasn’t any way to avoid that.

What happens if I get COVID on a cruise trip?

Before signing up for a cruise trip, be sure to read the fine print on how the ship will handle on-board COVID infections, evacuation procedures etc. At this point, Celebrity Cruise has enough agreements in place with other countries that for international sails, during any infections, the ship will be able to dock and you will be able to get off the ship. If you test positive for COVID-19 onboard during your cruise, Celebrity Cruise will cover the cost of your onboard COVID-19 medical treatment, land–based isolation, and private air transfer home for you and your traveling party, if required. Read more here.

In this launch, we also did NOT dock in the Bahamas – it was just a sailing to and from Ft. Lauderdale. If you decide to take a cruise now be sure to check if the ship requires on-board rapid testing after a day excursion.

Isn’t cruise travel bad for the environment?

Destination Net Zero

The cruise industry and cruise trips generally has a bad reputation when it comes to sustainability. Royal Caribbean Group announced Oct. 28 its Destination Net Zero campaign targeting net-zero emissions by 2050. The cruise company plans to establish over the next two years targets to be validated by the SBTi following the organization’s marine transport methodology. The company will set key milestones to ensure they are making progress, one of which will be the delivery of a net zero cruise ship by 2035.

Ship Design

Did you know that thanks to optimized hull design and system upgrades such as AC chillers utilizing 30-40% less energy, Royal Caribbean Group has consistently delivered a new generation of ships 20-25% more efficient than their predecessors?

Energy-Efficient Vessels

Modernization of the cruise company’s global brands fleet through the introduction of 13 new energy-efficient and alternatively fueled vessels.

Alternate Fuel Solutions

Development of alternative fuel and alternative power solutions.

Conclusion

Bottom line, if you want to take a cruise trip, it’s going to be a personal decision based on your aversion to risk. There is no right or wrong, but overall I would highly recommend the Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruise ships because of the top notch attention to customer service, food quality, room quality and commitment to safety of the passengers during this pandemic. After having spoken personally with the CEOs of both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruise, I feel more confident that cruise travel could be safe and offers a very different yet exciting way of travel, one that could be terrific for one’s mental health and well being right now.

While this cruise trip was sponsored by Celebrity Cruises, please note this post is an honest review of my experience, all opinions are my own.