Jan 21

Jan 21 Day Seven - Nassau, Bahamas

Is there anything worse than waking up on a cruise ship to the realization that it is the last day of the cruise? We decided we would change up our routine a bit today by having breakfast at Luminae, Apex’s private dining room reserved for suite guests. Luminae is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner on sea days, and breakfast and dinner on port days. The dining room is beautiful, located on Deck 15 forward, with one wall of glass for ocean views. The breakfast menu is quite extensive and offers something for everyone.

Rickee ordered the Eggs Benedict, Classic style, and I ordered my usual: two eggs over medium with English Back Bacon and Corned Beef Hash. We also ordered a Belgian Waffle with strawberries and bananas to share. Our evil plan was to have a nice breakfast, then skip lunch and save room for our final dinner tonight at Cyprus. More about that later.

Belgian Waffle with Bananas and Strawberries (and whipped cream)

Rickee’s poached eggs were a little undercooked with some of the egg whites still “runny”. The waffle, which turned out to be two waffles (one with bananas on top and the other with strawberries on top) was amazing. The whipped cream is a must. My eggs were perfectly cooked and the bacon delicious.

After breakfast, we decided to go ahead and get the miserable task of packing out of the way so that we did not have to think about it the rest of the day. This took about 45 minutes. Packing to go home is always easier and quicker than packing for the cruise, since you don’t have to pick out what you are going to pack. And, you don’t have to be as careful with dirty clothes! With our packing duties complete, we still have a beautiful bottle of chilled Champagne staring at us from across the suite. So, we decided to take the bottle with us to The Retreat on Deck 16 forward. One of the waiters was more than willing to ice it down for us in a bucket and bring us two plastic champagne flutes (plastic for safety outdoors).

Celebrity Apex — *Enjoying Champagne at The Retreat*

In case you are wondering why we did not get off the ship in Nassau, we were informed that the local government was only allowing guests to disembark the ship if they were on a ship’s excursion. Once again, the Bahamian government officials think they can outsmart a virus. In spite of that restriction, we probably would have stayed on board Apex anyway. We have already seen everything there is to see in Nassau. Okay, back to the champagne.

The enjoyment of laying in one of the cabanas at The Retreat and consuming a bottle of Veuve Clicquot was only interrupted by the constant and annoying sound of a jackhammer at a nearby construction site. By the time Afternoon Tea time rolled around, we forgot our pledge not to eat anything until dinner. Suite guests are treated to Afternoon Tea each day at The Retreat Lounge on Deck 15 forward.

*Sandwiches served at Afternoon Tea at The Retreat Lounge*

Scones on offer at Afternoon Tea at The Retreat Lounge

We did limit ourselves to only one finger sandwich, which was quite tasty! I mentioned that we had reservations for dinner this evening at Cyprus Restaurant, our first meal in one of the four Main Dining Restaurants on Apex. Each of the four MDRs has its own theme, unique decor and menu of specialty items. However, each of the restaurants also has a selection of Celebrity Signature items as well as Classic Starters and Classic Entrees.

What made this meal unique is that I had made a special request through our Butler, Anand, for some Indian cuisine, which is not typically on any of the restaurant menus. Sure, you can get Indian dishes at Oceanview Cafe, which are quite good. But, Indian food on a buffet always lacks the spice and the heat of traditional Indian cuisine. If you are not sweating, you are not doing it right. So, I asked Anand if it was possible to have one of the chefs prepare a couple of really spicy Indian dishes for me one evening. He looked puzzled at first, but then agreed to check on it for me. The next day, we were informed that we could pick any of the four dining rooms for my special meal. We chose Cyprus, the Greek-themed restaurant.

Rickee and I both ordered soups and starters from the Cyprus menu (above). Our waiter encouraged us to try the Hot Melted Cheese Saganaki to share, which we did. I ordered the Cream of Wild Forest Mushroom Soup, as did Rickee.

The Saganaki was very rich, consisting of a thin layer of baked, stringy cheese, about the consistency of Mozzarella, but more flavorful. A squeeze of lemon on the cheese really does brighten the dish. I think I enjoyed it more than Rickee and I would definitely order it again. However, it is really more than one person can eat.

The Cream of Mushroom Soup was as good as I have had anywhere. If it were served in a bread bowl you would swear it was the Mushroom Soup served in Prego on Crystal Cruises. Yeah, it’s that good.

Once our soup course was over, our waiter delivered our main dishes. Rickee ordered the Greek-Style Grilled Sea Bass from the Cyprus menu, and of course, I was served my Indian specialties.

Rickee seemed to enjoy her Sea Bass and my Indian feast consisted of a bowl of Chicken Tikka Masala and another of Pork Vindaloo along with a bowl of fluffy Basmati rice. Both the chicken and pork dishes were well seasoned and had enough hot spices to form beads of sweat on my forehead by the time I was finished. I was also served a plate of vegetable Pakora (below), deep fried potato in a spicy batter and served with a mint chutney and a mango chutney. It was also delicious. I was very pleased with my special Indian meal and impressed with how Celebrity can accommodate such a special request,

Once again, Rickee and I are forced to skip dessert as we are both filled to the brim. Tomorrow, Celebrity Apex will arrive back in Port Everglades and we will fly back to Dallas. We have thoroughly enjoyed our week aboard Apex. Watch our YouTube channel for more content as we tell you everything we loved about Apex, and a few things we would like to see improved.