colesjoholm
- Jul 6, 2023
- 3 min read

Recap: 19 nights aboard the Celebrity Apex

Updated: Sep 1, 2023

It's a wrap. One more night in Amsterdam...which is not being downplayed AT all, but my time onboard the Celebrity Apex has been absolutely beautiful.

The ship itself is a stunner. The decor is posh, it has all of the modern conveniences you'd expect from a Forbes 4 Star property. It literally has 4 Stars from Forbes, and it's earned all of them.

USB ports by the bed, the mirror, an Infinite Veranda was part of my upgrade between the first and second voyages when I moved from an Ocenaview room to an Aqua Class room. The beds and pillows are beyond comfortable, and the service has been top notch.

Now all of this comes with a much higher price tag than many other cruises I've been on, but hey, spoiling myself in an outlandish year of travel is another "why not".

The entire European leg of this trek to step foot on all seven continents in 2023 has been luxury. The Waldorf Astoria in Amsterdam, now the Celebrity Apex, definitely not an exact same level but both much higher than average.

I managed to do pretty well in my commitment to only use the stairs while on a cruise ship. There were 3 exceptions made when I was in the company of others. And it was somewhat disappointing, but I am averaging 32 flights of stairs and over 11,000 steps in the last 30 days...and that includes 11 days of normal home life when i climb fewer than 10 stairs a day (not flights of f stairs) and less than 5000 steps.

When I was chatting with Jay and Will, engaged couple from Austin Texas that have become part of week 2s gaggle known as "the gays" while at breakfast this morning, I mentioned I didn't know what I was going to do without the endless supply of bacon. Same holds true for the twice a day housekeeping. Endless supply of freshly laundered towels. A nicely made bed.

But, "normal" life is calling. I lobbied hard to stay on the ship with the onboard "future cruise" staff. They have cabins available on the upcoming 12 night sailing to Iceland and Ireland, but the cost is too high for me to stay on. I guess empty cabins are worth something, but I don't really get it.

At the end of the day, it's time to go home. It'll be filled with bittersweet and sadness. Excited to see Miss Macie Mae and will also be reminded harshly of the emptiness the Main St house now has that Mario has crossed the rainbow bridge.

As I have mentioned in a few posts, work actually kept me pretty busy while away and gosh, am I thankful for that! June ended up being a decent month. July is looking to be similar to slightly better in terms of loan volume, and all of that keeps me spinning around the world. So again, a giant thank you for your love and support and continuing to do business with me while I travel.

So to the connections. Every trip has been about connections. The sights and sounds change. The scenery is beautiful (most of the time) but as I spin, connections are the takeaways that have the most meaning. Justin. Pierre. Jon. Henry. Nick. Richard. Greg. Andreas. Sebestian. Oscar. Nicola. Marta. Danny. Dennis. Scott. Raymundo + mom. St. Louis. Luis. Paolo. Michael. Ryan. Wade. Jay. Will. Matthew. Matt. David. Flamingo. Sue. Bruce...and to anyone else I may have accidentally missed... cheers to you. Thank you from the bottom of my Toffee Apple heart for a beautiful holiday.

Until next time.

-Cole from Colorado