Celebrity Cruises from Southampton: a first-timer’s guide to Celebrity Apex

Celebrity’s Southampton season

Celebrity Apex, an Edge Series ship carrying 2,910 guests, has been based in Southampton every summer since 2024. Her 2026 season runs from 8 May to a final 13-night transatlantic crossing to Port Canaveral on 18 October, and she returns for 2027 from 7 May to 17 October. There are no Celebrity sailings from Southampton over the winter, when Apex is in the Caribbean. Celebrity has told the travel trade that Celebrity Beyond is due to take over from 2028.

Most Apex itineraries fall into a few types:

Which terminal does Celebrity use?

Celebrity doesn’t have a fixed terminal in Southampton. Celebrity’s own guidance names the City Cruise Terminal at Berth 101, and the port’s schedule shows Apex at the Horizon Cruise Terminal at Berth 102 on some 2026 calls. The two sit side by side in the Western Docks, and the terminal on your e-ticket is the one that counts. Taxis and private cars can drop you right outside, and if you are driving, Celebrity passengers park with ABParking. See our guides to the City and Horizon terminals for gates and postcodes.

Check-in, arrival time and luggage tags

Online check-in opens 45 days before you sail. The website closes three days before departure, but the app stays open until the morning of sailing. As part of check-in you choose an arrival time, which appears on your Xpress Boarding Pass, so aim to arrive in that window rather than early. You also scan your passport in the app, answer a health questionnaire and set up your onboard account.

Celebrity no longer posts luggage tags: print them from your online account under View Your Documents, or pick them up at the terminal. Your passport should be valid for at least six months after the cruise ends. Checked bags reach your stateroom within a few hours of boarding, so keep medicines and swimwear in your hand luggage. On a typical Apex sailing the ship leaves Southampton at about 4pm and is back at about 6:30am on the final morning.

Money: dollars, SeaPass and gratuities

Everything on board is priced in US dollars, even on sailings from Southampton, and purchases go on your SeaPass card, which is also your room key. Celebrity places a pending authorisation of US$100 on the card you register. Daily gratuities are added automatically at US$19.50 per person per day for Inside, Ocean View and Veranda staterooms, US$20.50 for Concierge Class and AquaClass and US$24.50 for The Retreat, or you can prepay them when you book. A 20% gratuity is added to drinks, spa treatments and specialty dining.

UK bookings can include All Included, which adds the Classic drinks package and Basic Wi-Fi to your fare. Since October 2023 it no longer covers the daily gratuities. The Classic package covers drinks up to US$10 each and the Premium package up to US$17, and all adults in a stateroom have to buy the same package.

Dining on Celebrity Apex

This is the biggest change for most newcomers. Instead of one main dining room, Apex has four complimentary restaurants: Normandie (French), Tuscan (Italian), Cosmopolitan (modern and global) and Cyprus (Mediterranean). They share a core menu, and each adds signature dishes of its own. You can choose a fixed dining time or Select Dining Anytime. The Oceanview Café buffet on deck 14, the Mast Grill, the Spa Café and Eden Café are included too.

The specialty restaurants, including Fine Cut Steakhouse, Raw on 5, the Rooftop Garden Grill, Eden Restaurant and Le Grand Bistro with its Le Petit Chef animated dinner, charge a cover of roughly US$45 to US$150 per person, plus the 20% gratuity. Popular restaurants and times book up, so reserve before you sail if a particular night matters.

What to wear: Evening Chic

Celebrity has no formal nights. Instead, cruises of seven nights or more have two Evening Chic nights, and shorter cruises one, when guests are asked to dress to impress in their own way: a cocktail dress, a skirt or smart trousers, designer jeans or an elegant top or blazer. Smart Casual is still fine on those nights and on other evenings, but shorts and flip-flops are not. Our guide to formal nights and dress codes compares the lines.

Coming from Royal Caribbean or NCL?

Celebrity and Royal Caribbean belong to the same group, and their loyalty schemes match tiers. Enrol in Celebrity’s Captain’s Club and your Crown & Anchor status is recognised, although points don’t transfer, some benefits are excluded and activation can take up to seven business days.

Norwegian’s Latitudes status isn’t part of the match, so NCL regulars start as new Captain’s Club members. Our New Year’s Eve guide has more on how Celebrity feels after NCL or Royal Caribbean.

Worth knowing for British guests

Tea, coffee, milk and juices are included, so there is no need to pack teabags unless you are particular about your brand. Stateroom sockets are US and European, with USB points, so bring a UK-to-European adapter. Coffee makers, irons, steamers and similar high-wattage items aren’t allowed, but a hair dryer is provided and straighteners are fine. Each adult may bring one 750ml bottle of wine on board, with a US$25 corkage charge if you drink it in a restaurant or bar.

Getting to Apex, and home again

Disembarkation usually runs from about 8am to 10am, and you can leave earlier if you carry your own bags off. We run fixed-fare transfers to Celebrity sailings from Heathrow, Gatwick, London and the home counties, and your driver tracks the ship on the way home, so there is no waiting charge while it clears. See our Celebrity transfer fares, and if you are flying out the same day, the earliest flight you can safely book.