Celebrity Edge made waves when she debuted in 2018 and continues to to this day. With a striking design inside and out, she looks to redefine what going on a cruise means – including new and larger cabins and suites. Celebrity Apex is the sister to Edge and is due to debut in March 2020.
If you’re interested in reading more about Edge, head here to read my full blog series. You can also see a full ship tour below which I produced for Cruise International Magazine. From the distinct venues such as the Magic Carpet, cantilevered off the side of the ship, to The Retreat, an exclusive enclave for suite guests, to the dramatic and well-designed outdoor spaces such as the Rooftop Garden, and stylish and contemporary indoor venues. Take a look!
I recently had the opportunity to visit Apex at Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in France where Celebrity Apex is currently getting her finishing touches. She looks to continue to amazing standard set by Edge and will debut in Southampton. Let’s take a visual tour around this exciting new ship.
Outdoor Spaces – The Resort Deck, Rooftop Garden and the Magic Carpet
Indoor Spaces – The Grand Plaza
Restaurants and bars
Virtual Balcony Stateroom
The Retreat and suites
What sets Celebrity Apex apart?
There’s three key differences between Edge and Apex, upping the bar even further with a cruise holiday. These are:
- New culinary venues and menus
- A whole new approach to entertainment on board, including within The Theatre and in Eden.
- A number of firsts-at-sea around beauty, fitness and wellness
Let’s take a look at what’s in store.
Apex of Culinary
Celebrity Apex continues to offer signature culinary concepts on board, through its continued partnership with Celebrity’s Michelin-starred Chef Cornelius Gallagher. Apex will include:
- The Craft Social Bar – Located just off of The Grand Plaza, this relaxed, casual bar space, will offer draft cocktails, wines on tap and more than 50 of the world’s rarest craft beers served by a certified beer sommelier. Menu items will include contemporary comfort food cuisine like mac and brie, Kobe beef sliders, crispy chicken sliders and meat and cheese boards. I mean, Yum!
- Le Grand Bistro returns to Celebrity Apex. This will continue to feature Le Petit Chef, with a new animated story and new, enhanced menus. A fusion of entertainment and dining, the menu offers such dishes as spring pea soup, King Crab farfalle pasta and filet mignon, while diners enjoy a story that chronicles the life adventures of Le Petit Chef who meets the girl of his dreams at age 12. I’ve loved experiencing Le Petit Chef every time I’ve dined on Celebrity so cannot wait for this!
- Eden will be evolved on Celebrity Apex. Dining at Eden returns and will feature an extraordinary culinary journey of new flavour-forward a la carte appetisers, entrees and desserts with ingredients sourced from local farms and fisheries. A sampling of new menu items includes fresh roasted Spanish prawns with melted peppers; cured fresh chorizo; slow-cooked shellfish broth with parsley, garlic, shallots and maldon sea salt from England; pastrami with Devonshire Dijon mustard emulsion, mashed potatoes cooked in duck fat; and crispy rye bread sautéed in butter and melted raclette cheese. Dining at Eden on board Celebrity Edge was one of the best experiences I’ve had on land or at sea – not to be missed!
In addition to this, menus for the other restaurants on board have been revised and new items creased for Raw on 5, Magic Carpet, Fine Cut Steakhouse, Rooftop Garden Grill, and the four Main Restaurants – Cosmopolitan, Cyprus, Normandie, and Tuscan.
Apex of Entertainment
Of all the changes to Celebrity Apex, the most exciting for me is the new entertainment offerings on board, including three new stage shows in The Theatre; an intimate cabaret show in The Club; along with a variety of themed experiences and activities throughout the ship.
The stunning, contemporary design of The Theatre incorporates new state-of-the-art technology features, including:
- A 23-foot-tall 4K LED screen curving around the stage to immerse audiences like never before.
- New 28-foot tall circular scrim and eight Panasonic 20K laser projectors for projection mapping to create a 360-degree wrap-around picture for audiences.
- 20-foot tall Tree of Life, complete with over 3,000 LED leaves, to set the stage for one of the most dramatic new productions at sea.
This technology plays a starring role in several all-new production shows and programming exclusive to Celebrity Apex. Rockumentary will celebrate some of the greatest classic rock moments in history, and for the first time, guests get to vote for their favourite finale, via the Celebrity Cruises app. Tree of Life will take guests on a journey of relatable life moments, illuminated by the changing seasons of the tree, and set to pop rock music. Crystalize energises the night with an inspiring and visually stunning performance featuring light, laser projections, custom video content, music, dance, and incredible aerial acrobatics, all tied together by the amazing talents of a world-class violinist.
Widely regarded as the most unique space on any cruise ship, Eden indulges every sense with a variety of entirely new experiences that creatively transform the environment throughout the day from morning, noon to night. An eclectic afternoon tea party morphs into a wonder-filled journey in a ‘Night of Dreams’, complete with live performances and audience interaction; a daytime guided meditation becomes the ultimate ultra-lounge in ‘Night of the Chill’; and interactive art experiences by day lead into ‘Night of the Arts’, celebrating the arts through interactive experiences and performances. Each day presents new options to Chill @ Eden, Learn @ Eden, Play @ Eden and Create @ Eden, culminating at night in Evenings of Wonder at Eden, encouraging guests to return again and again.
Evening entertainment can also be found at The Club, with the debut of Caravan, a more intimate and alluring evening cabaret-style production featuring new takes on classic circus acts with astonishing aerial acrobatics, acts of balance and precision, and more. Also fully programmed during the day, The Club will offer a variety of activities from video dance classes to archery to karaoke with a live band and full production support.
In collaboration with Girls Who Code, founded by innovative CEO and Celebrity Apex Godmother Reshma Saujani, the ship’s onboard Camp at Sea S.T.E.M. experiences will offer new educational coding programmes.
Apex of Rest and Relaxation
Celebrity Apex takes to the sea with a new spa management collaboration with OneSpaWorld and new wellness programming for the modern traveller throughout the entire onboard spa and sanctuary from acclaimed British interior designer Kelly Hoppen. Highlights include:
- A first-at-sea offering of F45 Training, one of the fastest-growing fitness networks in the world. These unique 45-minute, station-based, heartrate monitored functional team training workouts will be offered in a notably larger Fitness Centre onboard Celebrity Apex.
- A new Destination Wellness programme featuring locally inspired spa menus using authentic local ingredients inspired by the destinations that the ship explores.
- A new Women in Wellness wellbeing program centring on the emotional, physical and spiritual practices of some of the wellness industries? most highly respected influencers including Katie Brauer, Yoga Master and Founder and CEO of The Yoga Professional; Ruth Zukerman, co-founder of Soul Cycle and Flywheel Sports; and skincare icon and Elemis CEO Noella Gabriel.
- An array of new and first-at-sea spa offerings, including more than 120 soothing treatments and a new collection of state-of-the-art treatment tables, highlighted by the unique Iyashi Dome, the original Japanese infrared sauna that deeply cleanses and detoxifies the body.
Celebrity Apex debuts this spring with a mini-season of five sailings to European destinations, including the Norwegian Fjords, the northern coasts of Spain and Portugal and a new 10-night Capital Cities Cruise with visits to iconic cities including Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Oslo and Paris.
After Celebrity Apex’s Northern Europe mini-season, the ship spends the rest of its inaugural summer sailing seven- to 12-night itineraries in the Mediterranean, with visits to bucket-list destinations such as Lisbon, Portugal; Istanbul; Monte Carlo; Cannes, France; and more, before repositioning to Fort Lauderdale in November for a winter season of week-long Caribbean sailings. Celebrity Edge will also sail the Mediterranean from April to October 2020; and the Caribbean from November 2020 to April 2021.
For more information about Celebrity Apex, Celebrity Edge and Celebrity Cruises head here.