Scottishclover

@bermuda_fmFor a lovely hike you can hike up Sukkertoppen. We got the bus ( number 618 I think but it was in 2016 so I would check this) . The bus takes you to Hessa Island and once you pass the school on your left , get off at the next stop. The start of the hike is on the right hand side. It’s around 45 mins - 1 hour easy walk uphill on a trail to get some amazing views of Alesund and surrounding islands. There was lots of locals on the hike but no other tourists. Totally worth doing. We did this in the morning and then did the steps up to the viewpoint in Alesund in the afternoon. It also left us time to look around the town. I will add we had great luck with the weather that day and you could see for miles.

We did a fjords cruise at the end of June one year. Weather was mixed. Think west coast of Scotland in the summer. One day lovely sunshine in the low 20s (shorts weather for us), next day mist down and drizzle, next day in Bergen heavy rain. You just never know. You might be lucky and get a week of glorious weather. I would always have a waterproof jacket to hand. We hiked in every port. If that’s your thing, I can suggest routes. Alesund has the most gorgeous coastal setting and was probably our favourite place. Lots to see and do in Bergen too. We climbed Pulpit Rock but lots of people did the Lysefjord trip and saw it from the bottom.

I’m a teacher in a Scottish Primary School and the tradition is still carried on. Sometimes we branch out into other poems in Scots for the younger pupils. I still have nightmares thinking about my own daughters trying to memorise Tam o’ Shanter. Jim and Iain - it’s lovely to read about your travels again.

If you enjoy hiking, we really enjoyed these hikes ( but to have the freedom to hike, a car would be best): - hot river hike at Hveragerdi - hike to Glymur Waterfall - don’t just see the famous Skogafoss on the South Coast, actually hike to the top and then along by the river, there’s even more waterfalls to amaze you. The first 2 hikes are about 40 mins from Reykjavik. The hot river was so fun and the hike to Glymur waterfall was the best thing we did. It’s a half day hike but you need a sense of adventure as there’s a bit of a scramble and you need to cross a river to hike back down. Really amazing views though. I would consider the Skogafoss waterfall hike easy and you can walk as far as you would like before turning back. I would recommend a car. The driving was easy. Also be sure to book the Blue Lagoon months in advance. The South Coast Tour is a very long day so factor that in to your timings.

I’m sure you will have a great day in Edinburgh regardless. I was in town very early yesterday to do some Christmas shopping and took a moment to realise how lucky we are to live near such a beautiful city. Of course, the morning frost made the castle look even prettier than usual. To see as much in one day I would do a bus tour, then visit the castle ( book tickets in advance) and afterwards take a walk down the Royal Mile to enjoy the festival atmosphere. If the crowds get too much, nip into the National Portrait Gallery on Queen Street. It’s a haven of calm with a decent cafe too. I like your itinerary. We loved Alesund on our Norway cruise and I am very jealous of your visit to the Lofoten Islands. That’s on my bucket list. Have a great cruise and enjoy your time in Edinburgh.

With the first itinerary you will be in Edinburgh right smack bang in the middle of the Edinburgh Festival. Crowds everywhere and it will take more time than usual to see the sights. I avoid going into town during the month of August. While the atmosphere is good, crowds are unbearable. 2nd itinerary: Dundee is unique in its own way 😂 (let’s just say it’s not the prettiest of places although the riverfront has been recently regenerated) but it is only 20 mins from St Andrews. I imagine most people who dock in Dundee go there for the day. St Andrews is highly recommended, especially in the summer when there’s less students. We did a Norway cruise in 2016. Scenery was stunning. British Isles best done by land in my opinion.

We were on Apex on the summer. I went to the free morning stretch ( otherwise known as morning burn) with my daughter. The two instructors who led it were F45 instructors and told us they were employed by that franchise, not Celebrity. The instructors were both fantastic and the class was based on an F45 programme. At the end of the cruise we were given some F45 freebies to take home for turning up each day at that unearthly hour! They also did F45 training and other classes for a fee but I’m too cheap 😂 to pay for those when there were other free classes on ( e.g. Zumba) around the ship. My daughter enjoyed the yoga, also done by the F45 instructor. I assume there will be a similar setup on the Beyond. To answer your questions: 1)On embarkation day you can go to the spa/ gym and there’s sign up sheets for classes, although we were told we could just turn up, even for yoga. There was only 1000 people on our cruise though. It may be different on a ship at full capacity. 2) Not sure about the heart monitor thing but I was pretty impressed by the range of equipment so there’s a good possibility. 3) There was never more than around 10 in our classes. The 2 studios aren’t huge. You may want to note the instructors also do personal training, if that’s a priority. Enjoy your cruise 😀

Thanks both for the replies. I thought this would be the case.

Trying to decide if we should book Eden on our Beyond cruise. Both our daughters are vegan and I wondered if any vegans can share their experience of eating at Eden. Is there a separate vegan menu? On the whole we found Celebrity adapted dishes well in the MDRs on our Apex cruise, so I know they will be accommodated, but looking for more details before we splurge. I’ve had a look at the menu on the app but in terms of entrées and desserts, there doesn’t seem to be anything that could be adapted. Would appreciate any input. Thank you.

We visited Nice for 5 days in April. Plenty to keep you busy in Nice for the day. Get the bus - it’s easy and will drop you off near the old port. Much easier than the train as the stations are a bit away from the main drag. I liked the suggestion from @marazul to go to St Jean Cap Ferrat. We walked from Villefranche around Cap Ferrat and ended up in the very charming village of St Jean Cap Ferrat. Lots of locals out having lunch. We loved it. You could do Nice in the morning then St Jean Cap Ferrat in the afternoon. We also loved Eze but I would not go near it in cruise ship season. As for Monaco ….. I just don’t see the appeal.

@kwokpot, you made me emotional this morning with your photos of Rostock. I lived and worked there for a year in the early 90s and have been back numerous times since then. It really is a very underrated place and there’s lots to do in the area. Much more preferable than the long trip to Berlin. Berlin merits much more than a day to absorb all the history. Ironically, our Baltic cruise didn’t stop in Warnemuende in the summer, but for the OP there is no contest- do the Baltics. We loved it. We had an overnight in Stockholm and my daughter and I headed out after dinner to visit the photography museum and take in the nighttime atmosphere. We appreciated the extra time in Stockholm- it’s a gorgeous city and a lovely sail in too. Being British, we do not see the appeal of a British Isles Cruise. Most of the ports require a tour ( especially true of Greenock and Invergordon). Britain is best done by land.

On Apex there is one on resort deck and one in Teen Club. During our cruise in the summer, table tennis was a hot commodity. You had to be up at the crack of dawn to get a game. There was always people hanging around waiting to play. My husband and daughter went to sign up for the tournament but didn’t bother as there was a ridiculous amount of people playing. An additional table would be good but not sure where it could go. The spot the table is in just now is tucked away and quite sheltered.

We sailed with Celebrity on the Apex after a few Disney cruises and loved it. Our girls had outgrown Disney and enjoyed the sophisticated feel of Celebrity, so much so that we booked to go on the Beyond next year. Having allergies, we love the rotational dining concept on Disney, although to be fair to Celebrity, each time we revisited one of the 4 MDRs we got the same servers. We found the buffet on Celebrity to be much better than Cabanas too. For us, there’s just a much better variety of daytime and nighttime entertainment on Celebrity and the shows on the Apex were just as wow as on Disney - with the exception of Tangled- not sure I will ever see anything on a ship as good as that show. Really interested to read more of your comparisons. For our family, late 40s with older teens, we feel Edge class is a good fit. Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

Norway by water, Iceland by land. Norway’s fjords/ coast best done on a cruise but you would be missing so much by only cruising to Iceland. We were there for a week in summer 2020 and it was amazing. So much to see and do, especially if you are outdoorsy. In a week we only really managed to see South Iceland but the natural attractions were breathtaking. Cruising the fjords is lovely and there’s enough variation between the different ports too. I would do a cruise in Norway then fly to Iceland and do a land tour there. Without a shadow of a doubt. I know you mentioned Scotland but again I would say it needs to be a land tour to see the best of the scenery. In truth, all these countries - Iceland, Norway, Scotland - require you to get outdoors and a bit off the beaten track to experience the country at its best.

You cannot predict. We did a Baltic Cruise late July this year and had lovely weather with very little rain. The crew told us that the weather was poor on the cruise before ours. It is just your luck. You will have a rain jacket packed anyway ( you should have!!) for Austria. Vienna will be gorgeous but if you head west to the Austrian Alps, you just never know what you’re getting. Mountain weather is really unpredictable. We have been holidaying there for over 10 years and you need to be prepared for all weathers when you head out for the day. I would say the same applies for Baltics, although less chance of rain there than on a Norway Cruise. Atlantic weather systems and all that ….. I would recommend a Baltic cruise. We loved it. Don’t let the weather stop you.

I loved your review, thanks for taking the time to post. I prefer reviews like yours which focus more on ports than the ship and food and drink. We have always avoided Caribbean cruises, as we are not beach people and like to spend lots of time hiking while on holiday. You may just have sold me on this itinerary with your suggestions for hikes. Btw Norway is a great cruise for hikers, would recommend if you’ve not been. I am very jealous of your Azores trip. Have been looking at going there for a while but it’s quite tricky to get there from Scotland. Another Portuguese island, Madeira, is also great for hiking and a favourite of ours. Enjoy your trip in February and thanks again for the fantastic review.

Pleased to read this as we are staying in Lucca for 4 nights before our cruise next year and then getting a train to the cruise port. There is just one change of trains in Pisa. I prefer smaller towns to big cities and it means we still have the option of going to Florence for the day on our own time rather than be restricted by the ship’s docking time at Livorno. I also looked at staying on the island of Ischia near Naples ( we are going in July) but it was going to be a bit complicated with timings. I thought the Amalfi Coast/ Sorrento would be too busy in the summer but it would perhaps work for the OP who is travelling in October.

Monday 8th May has just been announced as a bank holiday so you will need to factor that into your plans too. Although King Charles has decided to have a scaled backed coronation, I imagine London will still be very busy. I don’t know about attractions being closed, best to email them directly.

We did a Baltic Cruise in July with 2 older teens and had 2 days in Stockholm. We could have spent much longer there. Lots to do and plenty to appeal to your 12 year old, especially on Djurgarden. By the way, crew members told me that Grona Lund is much better than Tivoli in Copenhagen for rides, if your son is into that. It would make a great night time excursion in Stockholm as it’s open late. The first stop on our cruise was Bornholm. I think a lot of people found it underwhelming but we liked it. We took a bus up to Hammershus Castle and explored. The main town was filled with Danish holidaymakers and gave us a great impression of local life. I think Bornholm, and I imagine Visby too, offer a nice change of pace from the cities on a Baltic cruise. I certainly wouldn’t rule out a cruise because of these ports. I know a lot of people don’t think Helsinki compares with other cities on a Baltic cruise and it probably doesn’t in terms of things to see and do, but it was actually my daughter’s favourite stop. She said it had a cool vibe. You could rent electric scooters everywhere to get about, which I’m sure any 12 year old would love. Something to consider: Everyone says that a Baltic Cruise is all about the ports and I would say that’s normally true, but there’s a balance to be had if you are travelling with children. The ship really does matter in that case. You will know how much activity your son needs. I’m not sure any 12 year old ever thinks it’s too cold to swim 😂 There were quite a few children on our cruise and the pool was well used. Im sure you will have a great time, no matter what high cruise you pick.

To avoid London, I would suggest taking an Avanti West Coast Line direct to Birmingham and then change there to a train to Southampton. It’s around 4 hours to Birmingham by train. Full disclosure, I have never done this and it will probably take much longer than using the East Coast Line. Also, there always seems to be a lot of work/ delays going on on the West Coast Line for some reason. If you were to go on the East Coast Line to Southampton with any company, you would always change in London as this would be the usual and quickest route. No problem to take luggage on the train, if you are happy to lug it about when you change trains. Sorry, can’t help with luggage transportation. You may not know this but you can actually fly direct Edinburgh to Southampton with Loganair ( if you like tartan, you will love Loganair😂) The train however would be a greener choice, of course. Happy to answer any more questions you have about Edinburgh.

We have booked early dining for our Beyond cruise next summer. So really we would be better changing to anytime and actually making reservations pre -cruise rather than having to queue up? This open dining for all actually happened too on our Apex cruise in July but we just assumed it was because the ship was at very low capacity. We were told just to turn up when we wanted and we always got a seat without waiting. We like to have the same serving team due to allergies and we were seated in the same server’s section regardless of when we are. I’m sure this wouldn’t have been the case though on a busier ship. Thanks for letting us know about the change in policy. Appreciate it😀

Now was it fudge or tablet? Tablet is very unique to Scotland and has a different texture to fudge. Delicious and should be tried on a visit to Scotland, mind you, you would need a visit to the dentist after eating it 😂The National Museum is another attraction worth a visit and is just behind the Royal Mile on Chambers Street. It’s free to enter although any special exhibitions have a fee.

I agree with much of what John Bull said, especially about going further afield from Invergordon but will give a few more suggestions on the Scottish ports. In 2021 due to covid travel restrictions, we had a staycation and based ourselves in Evanton, just down the road from Invergordon. The whole point of ships docking there is to take advantage of typical Highland scenery and I would whole heartedly suggest you organise some kind of private tour. Can’t stress enough, no real infrastructure to accommodate cruise ship numbers so find something as soon as possible. I know the road to Skye has been mentioned but Skye should be avoided at all costs in the summer - it’s just crazy with people and traffic. Here’s some alternatives: - Head over to the village of Lochinver via Lairg. Scenery is just stunning. You would need private tour for this. The mountain formations are amazing and you can have a lovely seafood lunch once you get there. The famous beach of Almelvich is nearby but avoid due to traffic jams on a single track roads. Not worth it in high season. On the way back visit the Geopark for stunning views and information about the geology of the region. This was the favourite thing we did on our 7 day trip. If you like to hike, there’s also some fantastic short hikes on this route. - Loch Ness is not the prettiest loch by any stretch of the imagination and the nearby town is very touristy. Urquhart Castle has an attractive setting though. Much better in my opinion is the drive up Glen Affric. It has everything you expect from true Highland scenery. We were blown away ( but should add the weather was lovely too). It’s in the vicinity of Loch Ness so could be combined. Also worth a wee stop is the Highland town of Beauly. - Cairngorms area is lovely but you need to be a hiker to get the best of it. Also getting over touristed. You would need a tour to get there. - We loved Culloden, the museum is very well done and the walk on the battlefield was quite poignant. It’s a nice half day trip but wouldn’t be a priority if I had one day. - Not for first timers, but The Black Isle makes a lovely day if you wanted to stay nearby Invergordon. It’s very quaint and there is a famous dolphin viewing spot. I couldn’t believe how close the dolphins were to the shore. Again, I’d say this is more for people who have been to Highlands before. Regarding Edinburgh, you get great views over the city from Calton Hill. Obviously being Scottish ( and living a half hour from Edinburgh) the Royal Mile is not high on our list but as a tourist it’s a priority. Just ignore all the tartan tat 😩Our favourite part of Edinburgh is Stockbridge and the Village of Dean. It’s walkable from Princes Street and you wouldn’t believe you were in a major city, especially down by the Water of Leith. If it’s a nice day when you are there be sure to spend some time in “ the gardens,” the green area around The Mound between the old town and new town. It will give you a nice slice of local life. Some final pieces of advice - if you plan to visit the castle book in advance. The queues can be awful . Also expect crowds, Edinburgh has become very popular recently. We NEVER head into town in August during the festival. If your cruise falls in that month plan accordingly!! I hope this helps and happy to answer any questions you have.

Really looking forward to reading what you get up to in Rome as we are staying there for 4 nights before our cruise on the Beyond next summer. It’s been 25 years since our last visit so I need a wee memory jog. Thank you for including details of your pre- cruise trip. Enjoy 😊

We did this tour in 2017 and loved it. It is not strenuous at all and a great way to see Key West. One of our daughters was not a confident cyclist at the time and she managed it fine. Our tour guide was informative but very chilled and honestly answered questions about the cons of living in the town. The whole tour was so relaxing and we finished with a lovely slice of key lime pie at the end. My husband needs to eat gluten free and they had organised a special pie for him too. Can recommend. We would do it again if we are ever back in Key West. Much more fun than the trolley tour.