You’ve Booked a Cruise on the Celebrity Apex. Now What?

If you’re like me, after booking, you hang on every word from the cruise line. You’ve invested a lot of money. It’s your vacation. You want to get it right. To make sure you get it right, download Celebrity’s app and keep an eye on your emails. If you’re headed for the Caribbean on the Apex, here’s what you can expect from Celebrity in the months, weeks and days before you cruise: 

Months before 

Promotional emails – Once you book, be prepared to be bombarded by Celebrity’s emails on beverage packages, wifi, excursions, specialty dining and the like. If you’re buying one or more of these, it’s best to do it now because the prices will go up once you’re onboard. 

45 days before

Online check in – This opens up about 45 days before the cruise via Celebrity’s mobile app. You'll also get an email that announces, "It's TIme to Check In." We received it on March 11 for an April 18 sailing. 

Refer to Celebrity’s website, https://www.celebritycruises.com/faqs, for details on what forms of citizenship and identification you’ll need. Once this is done, your boarding pass (“Xpress Pass”) will show up on the app. Note that online check in must be completed at least four days before the cruise. 

About one month before 

Luggage tags – You can find these in the last pages of the cruise document (“Guest Ticket Booklet”) that comes via email about a month before your trip. The luggage tags are in color; if you don’t have a color printer, you can get them printed easily from your local UPS or FedEx store. Or, you can print them in black and white. 

About 10 days before 

Reminder email – This includes last-minute details on what to bring to embarkation, as well as a reminder to check in and select an arrival time, if you haven’t done so already. 

About a week before 

Get excited – Around now, daily activities for the cruise start showing up in the app. (The evening shows, though, don’t show up until you actually board.) 

Two days before

Health questions – Each person on your trip will be required to answer two quick health questions on their app before embarkation. 

One day before 

Helpful tips – An email will tell you how to redeem your purchases of excursions or spa treatments; or drink, dining, wifi or photo packages. 

Breezing through embarkation in Port Canaveral

While I can’t guarantee you’ll have the same experience we did, Celebrity’s embarkation at Port Canaveral was the easiest we’ve had in 31 cruises. They usually dock at Terminal 1, which is easy to get to. Confirm the pier at portcanaveral.com, where you can also get directions and maps. 

There is ample outside parking (the garage fills up with Royal Caribbean cruisers) and a free shuttle van (note: tips are welcome). We parked the car at noon, hopped on the shuttle and were swiftly deposited at the terminal. To our shock, there were no lines anywhere and in mere minutes, we were in our stateroom, clinking glasses in delight! 

Musing’s Top Tip: At disembarkation, ask a port staff member where to pick up the shuttle to get back to your car. It’s not well marked (just a small sign on the ground outside) and hard to find.