Semi live report/review - Apex Scandanavian cruise 21 August 2023

[irvington]

I thought I would try a live report from the Apex since I have really enjoyed reading others’ live reports since my last cruise – which was 2 years ago, also on Apex. Some of this ground was covered better than I will accomplish, in a report Not So Baltic in the Baltic last summer, and some other ones earlier this summer, but that also encouraged me to think about writing one too!

Background: I’m Emily, mom/estate planning lawyer in my 50s, traveling with my sons Pearce (24) and Philip (21). My husband is off on a lengthy bicycle trip in Nova Scotia but I hope to lure him into cruising with us next summer if I induce enough FOMO. We’re from Portland, Oregon. Summer 2021 Phil and I were on the Apex in one of the restart cruises in Greece, and I’m excited to be back on board – and frankly a bit curious what it is like with a fuller passenger load. While we were spoiled by having so much of the ship to ourselves (maybe I will see if I can do some contrast photos), there were fewer activities. We loved the live music on board – but sometimes were a bit self-conscious to be the only ones in the audience, like we had to be superfans to make up for it. Phil was so worried about a bored bartender one night he ordered a cocktail even though he doesn’t drink!

We’re so excited to be traveling that this usually propels us through changes of plans – and often find that the missteps are where the trip magic really happens. This trip we had to switch timing so that Pearce could join us (August instead of July), St. Petersburg dropped from the itinerary (but that allowed us to move to a suite and have overnights in Copenhagen and Stockholm) and departing now from Rotterdam (but we will see someplace new). All good so far! Maybe I should hope for more changes.

Phil and I took a direct flight to Amsterdam from PDX, which if you live in a smaller city you know how awesome it is not to have 3 flights to get to anywhere interesting! Pearce met us there from his job in DC. We had a long flight delay and a bit of a cluster getting through passport control at AMS so I was glad we had a direct flight.

I’m hoping other people who are on this cruise will jump in and post.

[irvington]

Fun at AMS passport control. 

[irvington]

Despite the delays, we had a great first day in Amsterdam. We had scheduled a private street food tour with Hungry Birds, and they were willing to adjust the start time to when we could get there. 

we liked the Surinamese sandwiches at Tjin’s

the automat was cool but the food was so so

I liked the fries and sauce

Pearce was the only one willing to try the herring and it was one and done. 

we all loved the Japanese sandwiches at Ranchi 

in the Albert de Cuyp market

We loved the Apple tarts from Waldo. 

Edited August 22, 2023 by irvington
Add info

[terrydtx]

We board the Apex on the 14th so we are following your trip. We fly to AMS 3 days early.

[irvington]

The Van Stapele cookies disappeared so quickly I didn’t get a picture! They only have one kind but I highly recommended. 

[LooseMoose]

Greetings Emily, Pearce, Philip.

 

We are Andy and Laurie from the Vancouver area, who are also sharing the Apex with you. Right now enjoying the sight and sounds of live music while sitting at Cafe al Bacio, people watching and generally relaxing before dinner

Our experience going through AMS passport control was very painless with only ten or so minute wait.

Also we are finding the ship quiet especially today at the Ocean View for lunch, surprised for today is a seaday.

Cheers 

[Jim_Iain]

Thanks for doing a live post.   Will be following along.

 

We were on Apex for about 5 weeks and April/May and really enjoyed the trip.   Like your cruise the ship was close to capacity and was far different than at 40-50% passenger load.

 

One recommendation/warning is the evening shows.   If you really want to see something you need to arrive 15-20 minutes early as by showtime it was totally filled and turning away guests. 

 

I would really recommend Eden if you can book it.   Their Nova Scotia Live Lobster is incredible and nothing like the cold water lobster that is commonly served.

[terrydtx]

9 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I would really recommend Eden if you can book it.   Their Nova Scotia Live Lobster is incredible and nothing like the cold water lobster that is commonly served.

That is good to know, we have Eden booked next month, I was hoping the lobster wasn't the same warm water ones they serve in Murano.

[Ciaranaman]

Following!  We'll be in Amsterdam next May, pre-Scandanavia cruise.  Looking forward to reading about your travel 😊

Bernadette

[irvington]

We really loved Amsterdam. I was given a ton of restaurant recommendations but we ended up gravitating to less formal places. The weather was great so we generally ate outside. Highlights were Pllek, beachy, young, hip vibe, plant focused; cafe Luxembourg; ponte acari, eating canalside and great Italian.  Here we are eating at Pllek:

[irvington]

Not sure why that is upside down. Ugh. Still getting the hang of this. 
 

We are very interested in history, art, culture so we loved the museums in Amsterdam. The first one we went to was the Van Gogh, and the permanent collection and the temporary exhibition were great. We bought tickets in advance. Random pictures:

[irvington]

1 hour ago, LooseMoose said:

Greetings Emily, Pearce, Philip.

 

We are Andy and Laurie from the Vancouver area, who are also sharing the Apex with you. Right now enjoying the sight and sounds of live music while sitting at Cafe al Bacio, people watching and generally relaxing before dinner

Our experience going through AMS passport control was very painless with only ten or so minute wait.

Also we are finding the ship quiet especially today at the Ocean View for lunch, surprised for today is a seaday.

Cheers 

Great! We are in Eden bar right now. I loved this place last trip. The same guitarist Ge Luz is on who I really liked both 2 years ago and now. It isn’t really Pearce’s type of music (he plays guitar, but more 80s alternative) but he agrees he has a great voice. 

 

[hcat]

following with great interest..esp about the ship.. we will be in AQ Class

 

[Scottishclover]

Thanks so much for the shout out for my trip report. You have made a great start on yours so far 😀

 

Wondering if you have plans for Berlin/Warnemuende? I was in Rostock and Warnemuende last week on a fact finding mission with my daughter who is going to work there for a year as part of her degree. I also lived there many moons ago so if you have any last minute questions about the area I can help you out. Don’t be one and done with the herring - lots of great fish rolls to try from fishing boats on Alter Strom in Warnemuende. My favourite is Matjes Herring. Give it a try!

 

Looking forward to seeing what else you and your sons get up to on the trip.

[irvington]

One of the best things we did in Amsterdam was to hire a private guide, Henk Hartogh, on a recommendation from a friend. If anyone wants his info, email me at Emily.karr@stoel.com and I can send you his email and so on.  He took us on a tour of the Rijksmuseum and a walking tour of the city, historical spots plus red light district and Chinatown. Really a delightful guy. 

[irvington]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 22, 2023 by irvington

[irvington]

The Rijksmuseum was great for all of us. Pearce went by himself to the Rembrandt Huis since he has a particular interest in printmaking. Philip is interested in city life, enjoyed people watching in the cafes and parks, and was impressed by the diversity. Pearce and I went to the Kroller Museum which lots of folks love, but was kind of a miss for him even though he was an art major and loved modern art. 

[Boatharbour]

3 hours ago, Scottishclover said:

Thanks so much for the shout out for my trip report. You have made a great start on yours so far 😀

 

Wondering if you have plans for Berlin/Warnemuende? I was in Rostock and Warnemuende last week on a fact finding mission with my daughter who is going to work there for a year as part of her degree. I also lived there many moons ago so if you have any last minute questions about the area I can help you out. Don’t be one and done with the herring - lots of great fish rolls to try from fishing boats on Alter Strom in Warnemuende. My favourite is Matjes Herring. Give it a try!

 

Looking forward to seeing what else you and your sons get up to on the trip.

We took this cruise in July and thoroughly enjoyed reading  your trip report beforehand. I’m looking forward to reading this one too.
 

We heard the same comment over and over from those who had taken the Berlin excursion from Warnemunde - it was a long day. 

We decided to take a train to Rostock and Schwerin Castle instead. Schwerin was only an hour away by train, so what could possibly go wrong!
 

While we were at the castle I received a call that my mother had passed away. We decided to head back to the ship. Walking back to the station we noticed strange looking clouds. Not clouds - smoke. The railway museum was on fire and all trains were cancelled. We were stranded. 
 

One taxi, three trains and four hours later we arrived back at Warnemunde after being assisted by a carriage of passengers, many of whom were drinking  beer and peppermint schnapps on board. They found it amusing that two Australians were on their local train and went out of their way to help us get back.

 

I’ve never been so glad see a ship in the distance as the train finally pulled in. We then had time left to walk around Warnemunde and thoroughly enjoyed it. Interesting shops, lots of nice restaurants and a wonderful group of male singers standing on a boat singing sea shanties and other songs. Truly a memorable day without the long haul to Berlin. 
 

Following your adventures.

[LooseMoose]

Good Day Emily,

We are now calling it a night after watching a new Captain's Club activity called A Sneak Peak of Eden around five o'clock, then the Diva's Three show, which we found excellent, dinner in Tuscan, a quick Silent Disco visit in the Club followed by making a donation at the casino (to keep their lights turned on).

Tomorrow, ship sponsored tour to Berlin.

Have a great day

Cheers A & L

[Jim_Iain]

5 hours ago, terrydtx said:

That is good to know, we have Eden booked next month, I was hoping the lobster wasn't the same warm water ones they serve in Murano.

It is Live Nova Scotia Lobster.    The MD indicated that everything at Eden is Fresh and that if supply chain issue arise they do not substitute.   

[Jim_Iain]

5 hours ago, irvington said:

Not sure why that is upside down. Ugh. Still getting the hang of this.

 

That is a common problem with phones (incorrect orientation) an CC software. 

 

A quick fix is going in to edit the photo and click the rotation button 4 times and then when you post it will post correct. 

[irvington]

On 8/22/2023 at 3:41 PM, Jim_Iain said:

It is Live Nova Scotia Lobster.    The MD indicated that everything at Eden is Fresh and that if supply chain issue arise they do not substitute.   

Based on Jim's recommendation, I signed us up for Eden tonight (around 6 pm I was able to get a reservation for 3 at 8:30) and we had a blast. We didn't get along as a family yesterday in Berlin, but we were all on our best behavior and had a delicious dinner. I will post some pictures, but despite having been in the Eden bar last cruise and this one I hadn't been down in the restaurant itself. Without asking, they moved us to a windowside table with a view of the wake when it became available, our food was the best we've had (we all had either the mulligatawny soup or the crab cake appetizer, and the filet/wellington or lobster casserole as a main, wonderful desserts) and the service was nice but not so intrusive we couldn't talk. The lighting and live music was special too. 

[irvington]

On 8/22/2023 at 10:44 AM, Scottishclover said:

Thanks so much for the shout out for my trip report. You have made a great start on yours so far 😀

 

Wondering if you have plans for Berlin/Warnemuende? I was in Rostock and Warnemuende last week on a fact finding mission with my daughter who is going to work there for a year as part of her degree. I also lived there many moons ago so if you have any last minute questions about the area I can help you out. Don’t be one and done with the herring - lots of great fish rolls to try from fishing boats on Alter Strom in Warnemuende. My favourite is Matjes Herring. Give it a try!

 

Looking forward to seeing what else you and your sons get up to on the trip.

I meant to post earlier. This was such a kind offer. We had preexisting plans to go to Berlin.  Of course, I'm now going out of order, but I wished in hindsight we had done things locally and left Berlin for another trip. 

 

Just in case this helps someone else, I had asked my sons long in advance (when I tend to plan things) if it was important to them if we went to Berlin and they said yes. Part of this is I know how much we spent on this, and it certainly wasn't one of those splurges that felt worth it to any of us. Just in case this helps anyone else:

- We are all big history fans, sons have read/watched a lot on WWII - but none of us fully realized how little visible history is left. Their dad has vivid memories of visiting in 1982, but of course the drama of the wall and Checkpoint Charlie is largely gone. I realize "DUH!" but somehow, we didn't fully get it before we got there. Pearce had read the Christopher Isherwood books that were the basis of Cabaret, I had seen Erik Larson talk about In the Garden of Beasts, but again, those physical places are mostly gone. 

- The trip there is long, I splurged on a driver but it is a long day and you don't see much even in the 6 hours we had there. I think I would have a totally different hit on Berlin if we stayed there, went to what seem to be wonderful museums and experienced some of the street scene/ neighborhood life.

- The best part for my sons was having our driver drive 200 kph on the Autobahn. Go figure. 

[irvington]

I know some folks want to know about the ship. It has been interesting since Philip and I were on Apex 2 summers ago to Greece and of course it is a different scene now with more people. Observations:

 

1. Like before, I am now at 11:15 pm the only person in the Retreat Lounge, but it is a nice place to "work" on my computer.

 

2. We are enjoying Craft Social a lot, but we like sports bars at home, and we are getting into Premier League and Championship League football.

 

3. Luminae was bumpy the first night, but Pearce and I have continued to go. We think the coffee is the best on the ship and it has a great breakfast. We think the food is great most of the time. Philip sort of insists on going to Oceanview; he likes getting Indian food for 3 meals a day (or more, I think he eats like 6 meals a day) and being able to jet in and out. My sons really like the burgers and chicken sandwiches at the Retreat Pool Bar (whatever it is called). We miss our server at Luminae Indu - apparently he is now on the Beyond (we are social media friends).

 

4. This might be more with retreat/Luminae, but I'm struck this time how hovering and deferential the service is. It seems kind of over the top - we are always super nice to everyone - but it makes me think that other folks may demand more fawning service than we do. 

 

5. My sons have tried all the pools. I know there was some controversy about the Solarium family hours for younger children (may be on a different ship). The family hours are 4 to 7pm I think, keep meaning to get a picture. 

 

6. I think I like the ship with more people. I don't think we have ever had to wait for anything. We found the Eden decor really freaky before (we had not long before seen Annihilation) but now it seems diluted with all the people watching. 

[scottie920]

13 hours ago, irvington said:

2. We are enjoying Craft Social a lot, but we like sports bars at home, and we are getting into Premier League and Championship League football.

Are Craft Social Drinks/Food included in the Retreat Premium Beverage Package?