Not so baltic in the Baltic - July 20 -August 1st Best of Scandinavia on the Apex

[RNRcruisers]

Wonderful review! I love your writing style - informative and to the point.

 

A Baltic cruise is on my wish list. DH and I spent a week in Amsterdam before Covid and really enjoyed it, even spent a day at Zaanse Schans. I agree with your view - kitchy but still a fun experience. I'm happy you enjoyed Helsinki, it doesn't seem to get a lot of love on Cruise Critic. I spent a year there as an exchange student many years ago and have been wanting to return. Sounds like you had a fabulous trip. 

[Scottishclover]

19 hours ago, Boatharbour said:

Totally agree that this has to be one of the reviews I’ve read on CC.  Not only entertaining, but filled with practical information. The summaries are particularly helpful. Thank you!

Thank you for your kind comments. There’s not too many reviews with information about Baltic cruising so I’m glad you are finding it useful. 

[Scottishclover]

16 hours ago, mauimary said:

Scottishclover.  I really enjoyed your review.   Very practical , entertaining and humorous.  We did this almost identical itinerary about ten years ago with the exception of St Petersburg which was interesting but also a port we would not want to go back to.  We did this cruise in early June and the weather was perfect. We did not have our college age kids with us but had to chuckle at your description of Tivoli.  We only went there as we arrived on a day when everything is closed in Copenhagen and we wanted to do something!  But thank goodness Copenhagen was an overnight.  Would have loved an extra night in Stockholm like you had and like you made a beeline to the Vasa Museum. 

After reading your review it makes us want  to repeat this Itinerary as there is so much to see and do and like you we are do it yourselfers!!! Thank you for taking the time to do this great review. 
 

 

10 years ago - I think it’s time to repeat the itinerary😀  The Baltic  is a great area for a cruise in the summer. DIY in ports can take a lot of research but I enjoy the challenge. More often than not I get it right - Tivoli was the exception this time.

[irvington]

thinking about the trip with my sons (20 and 24) and the several sea days has made me think more about onboard activities. I liked your tip about picking up a schedule in the fitness center. Are there other things like that where the full schedule isn't on the app? are all the pub trivia / quiz type things on the app, or do we pick up the schedule? I have one son who likes to be doing something all the time (or so it seems to his aging mother)!

thanks for the informative and funny review!

[Scottishclover]

9 hours ago, chemmo said:

Cruising, to us, has been the ultimate family holiday. Like yourselves we also enjoy other holiday types but somehow cruising is the holiday style that always brings us together.
 

We cruised first when our son was a small child. As he hit his teens we expected him to get bored but every time we suggested a cruise he was still happy to come. Then he hit young adulthood and he began to go on holiday with friends but still came on cruises with us! On a few more years and steady girlfriend…We thought now our family cruises will come to an end but no…Now we travel on cruises as a foursome!

 

Long may you continue to enjoy your family cruises!

Thank you Chemmo. I totally agree - cruising is a great way to spend quality family time together. We have 2 more Celebrity cruises booked with our girls:  Italy, Croatia and Montenegro on the Beyond next summer,  and then Japan in Easter 2024. After coming home ‘skint’ from her first year at university, I think DD1 has realised the only way she will be able to afford a holiday is to tag along with us!

[Scottishclover]

3 hours ago, RNRcruisers said:

Wonderful review! I love your writing style - informative and to the point.

 

A Baltic cruise is on my wish list. DH and I spent a week in Amsterdam before Covid and really enjoyed it, even spent a day at Zaanse Schans. I agree with your view - kitchy but still a fun experience. I'm happy you enjoyed Helsinki, it doesn't seem to get a lot of love on Cruise Critic. I spent a year there as an exchange student many years ago and have been wanting to return. Sounds like you had a fabulous trip. 

Thank you for your lovely comments. I think while Helsinki doesn’t stand up to other cities in terms of visitor attractions it has a bit of an edgy vibe, which we like. You need to get under the skin of some cities to fully appreciate them and of course this isn’t possible in a day. We would love to go back and explore more of Finland. 

[Scottishclover]

7 minutes ago, irvington said:

thinking about the trip with my sons (20 and 24) and the several sea days has made me think more about onboard activities. I liked your tip about picking up a schedule in the fitness center. Are there other things like that where the full schedule isn't on the app? are all the pub trivia / quiz type things on the app, or do we pick up the schedule? I have one son who likes to be doing something all the time (or so it seems to his aging mother)!

thanks for the informative and funny review!

One thing to note is that more activities are added to the app as the cruise progresses, so it’s important to refresh it daily. In terms of trivia, sometimes it’s general knowledge, sometimes it’s themed, e.g. Beer and wine, Friends, Movie Quotes. There was always plenty to keep our girls busy on the sea days and what was nice was that we were able to splinter off to do our own things/ interests and then come together again for family activities. You can check the app to look at the type of activities on offer on current cruises. I don’t think they will change too much. There is something for everybody. We actually found the app a really useful tool throughout the cruise.

[irvington]

1 hour ago, Scottishclover said:

One thing to note is that more activities are added to the app as the cruise progresses, so it’s important to refresh it daily. In terms of trivia, sometimes it’s general knowledge, sometimes it’s themed, e.g. Beer and wine, Friends, Movie Quotes. There was always plenty to keep our girls busy on the sea days and what was nice was that we were able to splinter off to do our own things/ interests and then come together again for family activities. You can check the app to look at the type of activities on offer on current cruises. I don’t think they will change too much. There is something for everybody. We actually found the app a really useful tool throughout the cruise.

thanks, I just realized from this that I can look at the app even for cruises I'm not on! and I think I solved the mystery - I went on my first Celebrity cruise last summer, and even though it was amazing, I don't think there were as many activities offered as there seem to be now. The ship was empty then, so it makes sense they would be offering more now. Thanks for the assistance.

[weacat]

Thank you for your detailed and thoughtful review.  We had originally booked this itinerary the summer of 2020 and now rescheduled for next summer.  We will be cruising with our DD who will be almost 10.  Your details will come in handy as we get closer to our sailing date and help with the planning at the different ports.

[Scottishclover]

35 minutes ago, weacat said:

Thank you for your detailed and thoughtful review.  We had originally booked this itinerary the summer of 2020 and now rescheduled for next summer.  We will be cruising with our DD who will be almost 10.  Your details will come in handy as we get closer to our sailing date and help with the planning at the different ports.

I’m glad you are enjoying it. Copenhagen is such a child friendly city- lots to do. It was the first city break we ever attempted with our girls.  The National Museum had a special children's section where they could dress up. On Djurgarden in Stockholm there’s so many museums suitable for children - Junibacken and Skansen are a couple which spring to mind. Our two also still enjoy looking for  “foreign sweeties” in supermarkets, which is how we discovered the infamous Plopp. I’m sure you will have a great time on the cruise, when it comes around.

[Mimiya11]

On 8/4/2022 at 4:03 PM, Scottishclover said:

Eating Vegan and Gluten Free

Ok, here’s what you need to know:

1) Fill out the special needs form before you go.

2) After you board, talk to the Maitre D.

3) Don’t be frightened to ask if particular dishes can be veganised or made gluten free.

4) Pre order for the next night.

5) Be flexible.

Normandie was a favourite MDR

 

We actually booked early dining so we would have the same server each night for ease, but  the ship was so quiet you could eat in any of the four MDRs at any time. We found that when we made a repeat visit to a restaurant we got the same servers, not sure if that was the same for everyone or just for us freaks LOL. I’m sure the staff must have been dreading seeing us walk through the door. On the whole the pre ordering between the different restaurants went smoothly.

 

We loved: 

- vegan corner at OV at lunch

- gf desserts at OV ( sometimes not to DH’s liking but nice to be offered)

- gf section at breakfast

- hummus and salad selection 

- that everything on the buffet is marked

- oat milk at Cafe al Bacio

- coconut macaroons, need I say more!  Well I will, tasty even if you’re not gf 

- the separate vegetarian menu at dinner, most things can be made vegan if you pre- order

 

What could be better:

- healthier breakfast options like nuts and seeds to put on granola

- soya yoghurt at breakfast 

- fresh berries ( we were in Scandinavia after all, there’s berries everywhere)

- better quality peanut butter

- more dishes with beans and lentils for protein

- gf bread

 

 

 

Your observations are spot on when it comes to Celebrity GF and more healthy options.   My husband has a wheat allergy and we no matter which Celebrity ship we have sailed on, we find the GF bread options pretty sad.  Plus not a GF cracker for cheese could be found. 

And don't get me started on the peanut butter, which is my spread of choice on toast for breakfast.   

BTW thoroughly enjoying reading your posts.  Loving your writing style 🙂 

[Mimiya11]

On 8/8/2022 at 4:31 AM, Scottishclover said:

What I actually meant here was that in terms of the ports we were at, for us, I think Stockholm was the best place to have the overnight stop. More options than in other places in terms of museums, attractions etc. Copenhagen would also make a good overnight stop but we have been there a couple of times already. We have travelled a lot and find it very difficult to compare cities, as each one has its own charms. It’s all very subjective - even in our own family, we all had different,  favourite Baltic ports.

Agree with you on this.  So much to see and do in Stockholm.   The Vasa Museum was fantastic and we even got to the Nobel Prize Museum which is highly recommended.  If we had more time, I so wanted to go to the ABBA Museum (seriously 🙂)  but what made up for it was an ABBA night sing

along the night we sailed out of Stockholm.     

[Scottishclover]

21 hours ago, Mimiya11 said:

Your observations are spot on when it comes to Celebrity GF and more healthy options.   My husband has a wheat allergy and we no matter which Celebrity ship we have sailed on, we find the GF bread options pretty sad.  Plus not a GF cracker for cheese could be found. 

And don't get me started on the peanut butter, which is my spread of choice on toast for breakfast.   

BTW thoroughly enjoying reading your posts.  Loving your writing style 🙂 

Thanks Mimiya11 for your input. Glad you agree on the peanut butter.  My girls are peanut butter snobs, will only eat one brand and normally cover it with an array of nonsense, e.g . Hemp/ chia/ flax seeds. It also gets added to porridge in our house. Let’s just say it was the one thing on the cruise they had to “put of with.”

 

Will have to agree to disagree on the Abba night sing-a-long. Just couldn’t bring myself to do it ( but I was definitely in the minority).

[Dave Judy]

ScottishClover, we actually met pre cruise over a discussion about Hammershus. We were able to get on the local bus around 2:15 pm and had a marvelous time out at the ruins. We took the 5:00 bus back and had a wonderful tour of a few villages and the beautiful Borneholm countryside. 
 

We are both retired educators from the USA, so feel a special kinship. We brought OD (Only Daughter) along - she’s a chemistry teacher, and had a great time with her exploring all of the ports. 
 

Your review was detailed and outstanding in a different way. A great read - Thanks!

 

[Scottishclover]

11 minutes ago, Dave Judy said:

ScottishClover, we actually met pre cruise over a discussion about Hammershus. We were able to get on the local bus around 2:15 pm and had a marvelous time out at the ruins. We took the 5:00 bus back and had a wonderful tour of a few villages and the beautiful Borneholm countryside. 
 

We are both retired educators from the USA, so feel a special kinship. We brought OD (Only Daughter) along - she’s a chemistry teacher, and had a great time with her exploring all of the ports. 
 

Your review was detailed and outstanding in a different way. A great read - Thanks!

 

Actually, we must have been on the same bus back to the ship from Hammershus. Small world! We were the couple waiting for the bus with the two teen girls. There was another couple travelling back to the ship too, if I remember. I think it’s great when people are adventurous enough to use the public transport and explore independently. 
 

We also enjoyed the ruins and would have loved longer to explore and hike on the paths down by the water. However, we weren’t brave enough to wait for the very last bus back. How lovely you got to spend time with your daughter in those fantastic ports. 
 

I hope to round off the review at the weekend before school starts up again on Monday. So glad you’re enjoying it. 

[Dave Judy]

We think we saw your daughters around the ship (was one of them running laps on an afternoon sea day?).  We had just met the other couple at the bus stop and were playing the, “ Do you know them ?” Game when you discover cities in common, so might not have noticed other passengers.  I do remember it was full by the time we hit town…

 

[Scottishclover]

Review Round Up: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

 

The Good

1) Capacity- At around half capacity, I think we sailed on the Apex at the optimum time. There were no cutbacks due to low numbers and at times, especially in the MDRs, I’d go as far as to say the service was over-attentive.

2) Crew- Just fantastic. Special shout out to the cleaners in particular, who never get the recognition they deserved. We witnessed them hoovering the underside of the stairs( I mean, come on!)  and DD1 said one jumped in the lift with her to clean a single finger mark she had spotted, just as the doors were closing. Everywhere was spotless and there were even times you could hardly go to the toilet in peace, without an industrious cleaner joining you in the public bathrooms!

3) Entertainment - I can only compare with Disney but the entertainment exceeded my expectations. Most guest entertainers got standing ovations and the three big production shows, as well as Caravan and some of the shows in Eden were great. 
4) Food - It would be very difficult for us to get the variety of vegan and gluten - free food that we got on Apex, anywhere on land. I know because we have tried and it is not easy. Even in major cities, it’s like searching for a needle in a haystack. In truth,  we would need to go to a specialist vegan hotel. It was just so easy on the ship and meant I finally got a lovely break from the kitchen sink 😀

5) Ports - For anyone not sure about a Baltic Itinerary, I’d say go for it. A land trip in Scandinavia can work out very expensive so cruising is a value for money way to visit this beautiful part of the world. 
 

The Bad

You may have guessed this already but we are pretty easy to please. We laughed every night when asked at dinner, “What is your water preference?” If you’re Scottish, there is only ever one answer to that and it’s “from the tap!!” Maybe if we had cruised more, we might be a little more picky but really we had absolutely no major complaints.

 

Perhaps only one, very minor gripe. Being a planner, I would have liked a bit more info about where we were docking in advance. In Riga, Stockholm and Copenhagen I had looked at transport options from the other docks. It wasn’t until I looked at the app, I realised I had boobed. So that’s one thing to be aware of if you go this itinerary.

 

The Ugly

The only thing ugly about this cruise was the 3 and a half hours it took to get through security at Schipol Airport on our way home! Oh and the terrible,  but typical, Scottish  weather when we returned. It put a real spanner in the works trying to get all the holiday washing hung out on the line. So really nothing Celebrity Cruises had any control over.

 

So our first cruise on Celebrity was hailed a success by DH and the DDs. So much so that we have 2 more booked. Next summer, we go to Italy, Greece, Croatia and Montenegro on The Beyond and then we are doing Best of Southern Japan in Easter 2024. I suspect after that, DH and I may start cruising  a bit more on our own,  but we have the girls to put through university first. 

 

Thanks to all who read and commented - I appreciated it very much and maybe one day our paths might cross somewhere out on the ocean waves.

Cheers!

[SandyR5]

Thanks for such wonderful reviews. 

[Honey9954]

On 8/12/2022 at 10:53 PM, Scottishclover said:

Review Round Up: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

 

The Good

1) Capacity- At around half capacity, I think we sailed on the Apex at the optimum time. There were no cutbacks due to low numbers and at times, especially in the MDRs, I’d go as far as to say the service was over-attentive.

2) Crew- Just fantastic. Special shout out to the cleaners in particular, who never get the recognition they deserved. We witnessed them hoovering the underside of the stairs( I mean, come on!)  and DD1 said one jumped in the lift with her to clean a single finger mark she had spotted, just as the doors were closing. Everywhere was spotless and there were even times you could hardly go to the toilet in peace, without an industrious cleaner joining you in the public bathrooms!

3) Entertainment - I can only compare with Disney but the entertainment exceeded my expectations. Most guest entertainers got standing ovations and the three big production shows, as well as Caravan and some of the shows in Eden were great. 
4) Food - It would be very difficult for us to get the variety of vegan and gluten - free food that we got on Apex, anywhere on land. I know because we have tried and it is not easy. Even in major cities, it’s like searching for a needle in a haystack. In truth,  we would need to go to a specialist vegan hotel. It was just so easy on the ship and meant I finally got a lovely break from the kitchen sink 😀

5) Ports - For anyone not sure about a Baltic Itinerary, I’d say go for it. A land trip in Scandinavia can work out very expensive so cruising is a value for money way to visit this beautiful part of the world. 
 

The Bad

You may have guessed this already but we are pretty easy to please. We laughed every night when asked at dinner, “What is your water preference?” If you’re Scottish, there is only ever one answer to that and it’s “from the tap!!” Maybe if we had cruised more, we might be a little more picky but really we had absolutely no major complaints.

 

Perhaps only one, very minor gripe. Being a planner, I would have liked a bit more info about where we were docking in advance. In Riga, Stockholm and Copenhagen I had looked at transport options from the other docks. It wasn’t until I looked at the app, I realised I had boobed. So that’s one thing to be aware of if you go this itinerary.

 

The Ugly

The only thing ugly about this cruise was the 3 and a half hours it took to get through security at Schipol Airport on our way home! Oh and the terrible,  but typical, Scottish  weather when we returned. It put a real spanner in the works trying to get all the holiday washing hung out on the line. So really nothing Celebrity Cruises had any control over.

 

So our first cruise on Celebrity was hailed a success by DH and the DDs. So much so that we have 2 more booked. Next summer, we go to Italy, Greece, Croatia and Montenegro on The Beyond and then we are doing Best of Southern Japan in Easter 2024. I suspect after that, DH and I may start cruising  a bit more on our own,  but we have the girls to put through university first. 

 

Thanks to all who read and commented - I appreciated it very much and maybe one day our paths might cross somewhere out on the ocean waves.

Cheers!

 

On 8/12/2022 at 10:53 PM, Scottishclover said:

Review Round Up: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

 

The Good

1) Capacity- At around half capacity, I think we sailed on the Apex at the optimum time. There were no cutbacks due to low numbers and at times, especially in the MDRs, I’d go as far as to say the service was over-attentive.

2) Crew- Just fantastic. Special shout out to the cleaners in particular, who never get the recognition they deserved. We witnessed them hoovering the underside of the stairs( I mean, come on!)  and DD1 said one jumped in the lift with her to clean a single finger mark she had spotted, just as the doors were closing. Everywhere was spotless and there were even times you could hardly go to the toilet in peace, without an industrious cleaner joining you in the public bathrooms!

3) Entertainment - I can only compare with Disney but the entertainment exceeded my expectations. Most guest entertainers got standing ovations and the three big production shows, as well as Caravan and some of the shows in Eden were great. 
4) Food - It would be very difficult for us to get the variety of vegan and gluten - free food that we got on Apex, anywhere on land. I know because we have tried and it is not easy. Even in major cities, it’s like searching for a needle in a haystack. In truth,  we would need to go to a specialist vegan hotel. It was just so easy on the ship and meant I finally got a lovely break from the kitchen sink 😀

5) Ports - For anyone not sure about a Baltic Itinerary, I’d say go for it. A land trip in Scandinavia can work out very expensive so cruising is a value for money way to visit this beautiful part of the world. 
 

The Bad

You may have guessed this already but we are pretty easy to please. We laughed every night when asked at dinner, “What is your water preference?” If you’re Scottish, there is only ever one answer to that and it’s “from the tap!!” Maybe if we had cruised more, we might be a little more picky but really we had absolutely no major complaints.

 

Perhaps only one, very minor gripe. Being a planner, I would have liked a bit more info about where we were docking in advance. In Riga, Stockholm and Copenhagen I had looked at transport options from the other docks. It wasn’t until I looked at the app, I realised I had boobed. So that’s one thing to be aware of if you go this itinerary.

 

The Ugly

The only thing ugly about this cruise was the 3 and a half hours it took to get through security at Schipol Airport on our way home! Oh and the terrible,  but typical, Scottish  weather when we returned. It put a real spanner in the works trying to get all the holiday washing hung out on the line. So really nothing Celebrity Cruises had any control over.

 

So our first cruise on Celebrity was hailed a success by DH and the DDs. So much so that we have 2 more booked. Next summer, we go to Italy, Greece, Croatia and Montenegro on The Beyond and then we are doing Best of Southern Japan in Easter 2024. I suspect after that, DH and I may start cruising  a bit more on our own,  but we have the girls to put through university first. 

 

Thanks to all who read and commented - I appreciated it very much and maybe one day our paths might cross somewhere out on the ocean waves.

Cheers!

Thank you so much for such a detailed, interesting and well written review - we are super excited to be doing this cruise in July 2023.

Thank you again - for taking the time 🙂