WAVE HELLO
Want fine dining, cool aesthetics and luxury touches? Sail on Celebrity Cruises’ new ship
BE gone, great whites. There’s a new sheriff in Sharktown. Celebrity Cruises’ latest ship is the top-of-the-food-chain predator the travel industry didn’t know it needed. The aptly named Apex, a Cadillac of cruise liners, is scheduled to sail everywhere from the Bahamas to the British Isles in 2022.
This 14-deck, 130,000-ton ship has an impressive aesthetic. Celebrity Cruises’ list of collaborators reads like a who’s who in the world of design, including Tom Wright, the architect behind Dubai’s headturning Burj Al Arab hotel.
Apex boasts a “Magic Carpet” — the world’s first floating cantilever platform. This tennis court-sized restaurant and entertainment space is attached to the side of the ship and extends over the ocean. Visible from a mile away, it travels up and down 13 stories over the course of the day.
There’s no expense spared on the ship’s interior. An impressive 99 percent of its rooms have something most staterooms don’t: king-sized beds. They also have cashmere mattresses,
$300 300-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets and a pillow menu.
Celebrity Cruises hired Sienna Miller’s former stepmom Kelly Hoppen CBE, to do the interiors. The South African-born British designer’s clients include David and Victoria Beckham. Each room reflects a contemporary condo. At double occupancy, Apex can accommodate 2,910.
For Celebrity’s signature red-carpet treatment on steroids, travelers should stay in the Retreat. This exclusive, all-inclusive section of the ship boasts twostory villas with floor-to-ceiling windows, penthouse suites with walk-in closets big enough to get lost in and ridiculously large two-bed, two-bath “Iconic Suites.” With 1,900 square feet of interior space and a 700-square-foot terrace, they’re more than twice the size of the average New York City apartment.
“Go big or go home” also applies to the food and beverage scene. Apex has 29 different dining and drinking venues to choose from. They include cozy bars with biodynamic wines, lavish lounges with live entertainment and even a restaurant with a menu personally planned by French celebrity chef Daniel Boulud. Younger guests who don’t get the hype behind Michelin-star quality cuisine can have their palates pleased at Le Petit Chef. This trademarked animated culinary experience uses 3D mapping technology to bring each course to life. Passengers can easily undo all those all-youcan-eat cruise calories on Apex. It’s currently the only ship in the world to offer F45 Training: a station-based, cult fitness program backed by celebs like Mark Wahlberg and Cindy Crawford.
Or just lay down in the ship’s Iyashi Dôme — one of only 506 in the world. This $45,000 MRI-esque machine uses infrared rays to allegedly fight cellulite. Passengers looking to recoup their fare cost — seven-day cruises start at $1,000 per person — can camp out in the casino. Apex has 2,015 games and 148 tables ready once you’re in international waters.
It also has plenty of places to lose any potential winnings — think Cartier, Bulgari and even the only Montblanc shop at sea. Can you imagine going on a cruise and forgetting to pack your favorite $1,000 pen? Apex can’t.