Trip report: just off Celebrity Apex - Norwegian Fjords Cruise - May 15-23, 2024

[BuckeyeMark]

55 minutes ago, mickeysgal said:

What a review! Thank you. We have an upcoming Norway cruise and this has been so helpful.
 

How cold were you in these ports? What kind of layers worked, what didn’t work? Do you have a summary list of your tour guides and what port you used them ? 

We weren't cold but then again - most days it was in the mid 60s and sunny. I used a t-shirt or sweatshirt (depending on the forecast) and a Heat Gear puffy jacket and that was enough. Thought about bringing lined jeans and was glad I didn't. Just didn't need them. Geiranger was really the only place it got cold and that was up on the Mount Dalsnibba overlook (5000') where it was snowing! A good beanie cap helped a LOT on the Geiranger RIB boat excursion. If your ears are warm you're warm. If they're not, you're miserable.

I don't have a list of tour guides - maybe I need to put that together - but I think they're all mentioned in the reports.

Thanks for reading. You'll love Norway.  It's absolutely unfathomably beautiful.  Remember, the ports aren't the point. Get on deck for the entire fjord sail in!

[Mgb2hyd]

Thank you for writing a very enjoyable review with some beautiful pictures. It has bought back memories of a previous trip to Norway, sailing down those fjords in the quiet mornings is incredible.
 

Also, we will be boarding the Apex in 11 days (I might just be a little bit excited) so it was good to get your insights on the ship. At least we now know how to deal with the toilet smells too 🤣

[lovesthebeach2]

16 hours ago, BuckeyeMark said:

Yes, Int Friends is who we used for Bath and Windsor. Great tour. And they took us right to our hotel in London.

The pre-cruise trip to Stonehenge is something Celebrity did for us because we had a large group all needed transport from London to Southampton and we were able to convince them to add in Stonehenge. That took almost an act of congress to make happen but it did - and it was marvelous.

I think Int Friends does that Stonehenge-on-the-way-to-Southampton thing - you might check. Full disclosure: Stonehenge isn't really on the way but it's close enough to make it work.

We haven’t booked any flights yet, but which airport do you recommend and pre cruise hotel and ride to port? We’ve never been to Southampton to cruise yet, we’ve mostly flown to Rome.

[lovesthebeach2]

8 hours ago, mickeysgal said:

What a review! Thank you. We have an upcoming Norway cruise and this has been so helpful.
 

How cold were you in these ports? What kind of layers worked, what didn’t work? Do you have a summary list of your tour guides and what port you used them ? 

I don’t want to hijack this thread, but thought I’d add that we did an Arctic crossing on Royal in September 2022 to Iceland, Greenland and the Arctic circle. We didn’t even bring an insulated jacket, instead dressed in layers. Most days temps were 40s, maybe up to 50.

The key for me was I have a fairly light rain jacket that nothing can get through, so the very windy and cold day we had when we cruised Prins Christian Sund in Greenland, everyone -  including most of the staff on the ship - was on the top deck for the views.  The rubber jacket blocked all wind. If it was very chilly, I wore a light thermal shirt tucked into my pants, a light sweater and the rubber rain jacket. I was warm as toast, and we live in Florida and used to scorching temps, not cold.

And by the way, if you’ve never seen Prins Christian Sund in Greenland, it’s a sight to see!

which is why we’re so excited to cruise the Norwegian Fjords next August.

[mickeysgal]

1 hour ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

I don’t want to hijack this thread, but thought I’d add that we did an Arctic crossing on Royal in September 2022 to Iceland, Greenland and the Arctic circle. We didn’t even bring an insulated jacket, instead dressed in layers. Most days temps were 40s, maybe up to 50.

The key for me was I have a fairly light rain jacket that nothing can get through, so the very windy and cold day we had when we cruised Prins Christian Sund in Greenland, everyone -  including most of the staff on the ship - was on the top deck for the views.  The rubber jacket blocked all wind. If it was very chilly, I wore a light thermal shirt tucked into my pants, a light sweater and the rubber rain jacket. I was warm as toast, and we live in Florida and used to scorching temps, not cold.

And by the way, if you’ve never seen Prins Christian Sund in Greenland, it’s a sight to see!

which is why we’re so excited to cruise the Norwegian Fjords next August.

Thank you so much for this!  We are on a Norway Arctic Circle cruise and this helps so much!  It's our second time taking a Norway cruise but the first time going into the Arctic Circle.  I remember what I used for the most part on our lasts cruise there, but this time it's in a different month so I was wondering how to prepare.  Thanks!  And yes, Greenland is on my list...so thanks for the heads up on Prins Christian Sund.  

Edited June 4 by mickeysgal

[WisconsinFan]

Thank you so much! You did an amazing job and even though our ports aren't exactly the same in September 2025 you have us very excited for our trip.

[JackE]

Thank you for a great review and chronicle! We are on the Apex to the fjords in August so this was extremely helpful and getting us very excited! 

[PH2]

On 6/3/2024 at 1:44 PM, BuckeyeMark said:

Yes, Int Friends is who we used for Bath and Windsor. Great tour. And they took us right to our hotel in London.

The pre-cruise trip to Stonehenge is something Celebrity did for us because we had a large group all needed transport from London to Southampton and we were able to convince them to add in Stonehenge. That took almost an act of congress to make happen but it did - and it was marvelous.

I think Int Friends does that Stonehenge-on-the-way-to-Southampton thing - you might check. Full disclosure: Stonehenge isn't really on the way but it's close enough to make it work.

 

We were on the Apex for the 4 night sailing immediately following this sailing. Loved the ship.

 

I thought International Friends did a fine job on our trip back to London, but the one thing I'll caution is that the Salisbury/Stonehenge/Windsor/back to London around 5pm tour (which we took) was majorly rushed. Now, we disembarked on the 27th which was a bank holiday and so maybe it was more crowded than normal, but we spent so much time waiting for the bus to go to the Stonehenge site that we literally only spent 5-10 minutes at the site before immediately getting back in line to catch a bus back to the parking lot so we weren't late for our departure. And at Windsor, no one had time to stand in line to see the doll houses or the cathedral. We basically were able to walk through the state apartments, walk around some of the grounds and take pictures from the outside of the cathedral, then do a bit of souvenir shopping/grab some food before leaving. We all agreed that as cool as the Salisbury cathedral was (we couldn't go in as it wasn't open when we stopped), we would rather have had that 30+ minutes at Stonehenge or Windsor and just skip it.

 

That said, the tour bus and guide/driver were all great. But I just offer that as a word of caution lest you think you're going to get to do anything more than a bit of sightseeing before needing to get back to the bus. YMMV on less busy days, since this was our one and only experience I just know how hurried the entire day was from place to place when we did it.

[BuckeyeMark]

13 minutes ago, PH2 said:

 

We were on the Apex for the 4 night sailing immediately following this sailing. Loved the ship.

 

I thought International Friends did a fine job on our trip back to London, but the one thing I'll caution is that the Salisbury/Stonehenge/Windsor/back to London around 5pm tour (which we took) was majorly rushed. Now, we disembarked on the 27th which was a bank holiday and so maybe it was more crowded than normal, but we spent so much time waiting for the bus to go to the Stonehenge site that we literally only spent 5-10 minutes at the site before immediately getting back in line to catch a bus back to the parking lot so we weren't late for our departure. And at Windsor, no one had time to stand in line to see the doll houses or the cathedral. We basically were able to walk through the state apartments, walk around some of the grounds and take pictures from the outside of the cathedral, then do a bit of souvenir shopping/grab some food before leaving. We all agreed that as cool as the Salisbury cathedral was (we couldn't go in as it wasn't open when we stopped), we would rather have had that 30+ minutes at Stonehenge or Windsor and just skip it.

 

That said, the tour bus and guide/driver were all great. But I just offer that as a word of caution lest you think you're going to get to do anything more than a bit of sightseeing before needing to get back to the bus. YMMV on less busy days, since this was our one and only experience I just know how hurried the entire day was from place to place when we did it.

That is super helpful. We did Bath and Windsor and had enough time at both (though a little rushed at Windsor). But this is very helpful info. Thank you. 

[Silent Penguin]

On 5/27/2024 at 12:40 PM, KKB said:

 

Regarding Celebrity desserts--yep, the look lovely but have always been lacking in flavor, 

 

I agree.  In my opinion, the same is true on other cruise lines.  

[Silent Penguin]

On 5/28/2024 at 12:01 PM, BuckeyeMark said:

We went to every little town and village you can think of! We told our guide all we had on our "must see" list was that famous line of thatched roof houses in Bibury and the Tolkien Tree Door. He took care of the rest - giving us the flavor of the Cotswolds in a wonderful tour. We went to Lower Slaughter, Tetbury (saw King Charles' shop!), Bourton on the Water, Broadway (saw Broadway Tower), Stow on the Wold and so many more that I can't recall them all. Some we just drove through or got a coffee but we saw so much. It was really magical.  The guide service was not cheap but there are many one-lane roads and back-routes that he knew to take that got us everywhere easily and quickly. It was a great day and well worth it. Our guide is at www.cotswoldtoursandtravel.com

 

This is just the best trip report! I'm taking notes!

[PH2]

50 minutes ago, Silent Penguin said:

I agree.  In my opinion, the same is true on other cruise lines.  

It's so true! The wife and I joke that they just take the same cake and change the color of the cake and icing to make different "flavored" cakes. It's like the fruit loops effect - your mind convinces you of the different flavors because of the different colors, but they all actually taste the same!

[BuckeyeMark]

LAST ONE - A THANK YOU AND SUMMARY

 

Here is my last post. We disembarked and enjoyed two great days in London (the Roman baths in Bath and Windsor Castle, and ended with a unique, personalized spy tour and seeing Agatha Christie's “Mousetrap”!). Thanks to all who have commented with kind words. A couple of quick notes if you don’t want to read everything:

 

* Norway weather is very undependable. Our weather was perfect but I can’t guarantee that, of course. lovesthebeach2 said “layers” and “rain jacket” (which is not hijacking the thread) and that is 105% accurate.

 

 

* The fjords are amazing and you want to be out on deck (not in your room where you can only see one side of them) for the sail-in.

 

* You can’t see the Northern Lights in Norway in the summer because the sun doesn’t go down (or doesn’t stay long enough for it to get dark enough). Plus you really need to go further north than we did to see them at their best.

 

* Norway is more impressive than Alaska in many ways. It doesn’t have the wildlife Alaska has but the topography, mountains, fjords and waterfalls are unmatched. It’s not even close. Sorry, Alaska - I love you and have been to see you 3x, but them's the facts. Norway wins. If you’re telling yourself, “I’ve been to Alaska, so I don’t need to go to Norway,” you need to rethink that.

 

* The Infinite Veranda staterooms are wonderful and should be experienced personally before you decide that all the online criticism is correct. No, they aren’t for everyone. No, they aren’t a true balcony (and no, you can’t start up that argument here). Yes, it’s a really cool idea that works super well for many people.

 

* What Celebrity is doing with its Edge class ships is incredible. For a certain demographic (raises hand - it’s me!) this is exactly what you’d want in a cruise ship.

 

* The best gadget I’ve ever bought for my wife (who hates gadgets and never uses them) is a cell phone tether. She has a tendency to set her phone down in stores and especially in the restroom and then walk off and leave it (like in Yellowstone NP and not realize it until we were a half mile down the trail and it was snowing). She started with the Koala tether (google it) but this trip she used this simpler version. I used one too. It is a game changer. It eliminates that business of “where’s my phone?” and the constant pat down of all your pockets to find it. Talk about eliminating some stress! We will not travel without one ever.

 

* We don’t have another cruise sked for a while, so I’ll probably taper off checking Cruise Critic in the next couple of days. But I don’t want to miss your question - so if you need me, just send me an email, and I’d be glad to do my best to assist you. So many helped make our Norway trip special so I’m glad to “pay it forward” by helping you.

 

Again, my thanks to Cruise Critic. The boards here make a world of difference in your preparation for a cruise. And let me say one final time: there is no place on earth like Norway. You must go see it for yourself!

[cricketgirl]

12 hours ago, BuckeyeMark said:

 

* Norway is more impressive than Alaska in many ways. It doesn’t have the wildlife Alaska has but the topography, mountains, fjords and waterfalls are unmatched. It’s not even close. Sorry, Alaska - I love you and have been to see you 3x, but them's the facts. Norway wins. If you’re telling yourself, “I’ve been to Alaska, so I don’t need to go to Norway,” you need to rethink that.

 

 

Excellent trip report and great suggestions.  As one who assumed Norway would be the same as Alaska, thanks for setting the record straight.  Norway is now on my radar for future cruise ideas.

 

And by the way, we love the infinite verandahs too!

[Nanjen]

On 6/4/2024 at 9:32 PM, BuckeyeMark said:

LAST ONE - A THANK YOU AND SUMMARY

 

Here is my last post. We disembarked and enjoyed two great days in London (the Roman baths in Bath and Windsor Castle, and ended with a unique, personalized spy tour and seeing Agatha Christie's “Mousetrap”!). Thanks to all who have commented with kind words. A couple of quick notes if you don’t want to read everything:

 

* Norway weather is very undependable. Our weather was perfect but I can’t guarantee that, of course. lovesthebeach2 said “layers” and “rain jacket” (which is not hijacking the thread) and that is 105% accurate.

 

 

* The fjords are amazing and you want to be out on deck (not in your room where you can only see one side of them) for the sail-in.

 

* You can’t see the Northern Lights in Norway in the summer because the sun doesn’t go down (or doesn’t stay long enough for it to get dark enough). Plus you really need to go further north than we did to see them at their best.

 

* Norway is more impressive than Alaska in many ways. It doesn’t have the wildlife Alaska has but the topography, mountains, fjords and waterfalls are unmatched. It’s not even close. Sorry, Alaska - I love you and have been to see you 3x, but them's the facts. Norway wins. If you’re telling yourself, “I’ve been to Alaska, so I don’t need to go to Norway,” you need to rethink that.

 

* The Infinite Veranda staterooms are wonderful and should be experienced personally before you decide that all the online criticism is correct. No, they aren’t for everyone. No, they aren’t a true balcony (and no, you can’t start up that argument here). Yes, it’s a really cool idea that works super well for many people.

 

* What Celebrity is doing with its Edge class ships is incredible. For a certain demographic (raises hand - it’s me!) this is exactly what you’d want in a cruise ship.

 

* The best gadget I’ve ever bought for my wife (who hates gadgets and never uses them) is a cell phone tether. She has a tendency to set her phone down in stores and especially in the restroom and then walk off and leave it (like in Yellowstone NP and not realize it until we were a half mile down the trail and it was snowing). She started with the Koala tether (google it) but this trip she used this simpler version. I used one too. It is a game changer. It eliminates that business of “where’s my phone?” and the constant pat down of all your pockets to find it. Talk about eliminating some stress! We will not travel without one ever.

 

* We don’t have another cruise sked for a while, so I’ll probably taper off checking Cruise Critic in the next couple of days. But I don’t want to miss your question - so if you need me, just send me an email, and I’d be glad to do my best to assist you. So many helped make our Norway trip special so I’m glad to “pay it forward” by helping you.

 

Again, my thanks to Cruise Critic. The boards here make a world of difference in your preparation for a cruise. And let me say one final time: there is no place on earth like Norway. You must go see it for yourself!

Thank so much for this board. It has been wonderful following your journey, it’s also been a great reminder of our Norway cruise several years ago.

[Sleepybluegiraffe]

On 6/3/2024 at 3:12 AM, BuckeyeMark said:

DAY 7 - KRISTIANSAND - 1:00 - 8:00 PM
 

We are not thinking about how the cruise is quickly coming to an end. Instead we’re looking out our Infinite Veranda and seeing the Lindesnes Lighthouse. That’s pretty exciting because in a couple of hours, we’ll be visiting that lighthouse, so to see it from the seaside before we see it on the land side is really fun. We’re not 100% sure we’re looking at Lindesnes but when we arrive later that afternoon we confirm it. Excellent! One of the ways we know this is Lindesnes lighthouse is that we have binoculars with us. They live on the little table in the Inf Veranda area and we’re constantly grabbing them and taking a look at something during the cruise. Bring binocs! You’ll be glad you did.
 

A little before 1:00 we pulled into Kristiansand. It’s a fairly industrial port, although there was a very nice lighthouse on an island that we passed by. We piled off the ship and headed for our buses for a trip to Lindesnes. This tour was arranged through https://www.nord-dmc.com. Since we weren’t in port very long, it took some special arranging to get it all done, but they were easy to work with. We had a group of people who wanted to go and it worked out to be around $60 a piece, which is a bargain. 
 

The only downside to the tour was that they can’t pick you up right at the port. We had to walk several blocks to a nearby hotel. Not too bad but I wish they’d been more up front about that part of things. I was under the impression the pickup was quite close when it turned out to be a good little walk. As the day was very sunny (which we would appreciate once we got to the lighthouse) it was quite a warm walk to the bus. 

 

The drive to Lindesnes was marvelous. I was reminded of Oregon and the wilds of the northwest coast over and over. Beautiful forests, rivers, huge rocks and cliffs - it was a superb drive. Our guide knew everything about the land and people and towns so we got tons of good Norway info (did you know Norway pays for your cemetery plot for the first 20 years you use it, but after that your family will need to pay rent?). We passed a lot of seaside marinas with boathouses painted in deep red and ochre, all neat and tidy just like you’d expect in Norway. 

After about 90 minutes we arrived at the lighthouse. It is on the coast (of course - it’s a lighthouse) but it’s also on Norway’s most southern point, and that’s a place where the coast is savage and beautiful. There’s a huge cliff there, with lots of inlets and bluffs and rocks that made for incredible photographs. However, it was very windy - as in “secure your cap” or it’s headed to the Atlantic. But even with that, we had a great time at the lighthouse. There’s an enclosed theater cut into the rock, known as the Mountain Hall, and we got a brief introduction to the lighthouse there. Then we headed up the trail to the tower, and from there, up the tower to see the view from the top. It was a little bit of a climb but so worth it. Our guides said you can’t see Denmark from the top of the lighthouse but I am pretty sure I could!  🤣

 

 

 

 

 

Lindesnes offers more than just the lighthouse. We took a quick look at the keeper’s home and an ammo bunker carved into the side of the cliff face (with its corresponding path carved into the rock). Several gun emplacements where the Germans had mounted cannons are still visible, too. The guns are long gone, but the circles of concrete remain—scars of a terrible time when Norway was under the boot of an evil empire. 
 

 

 

Lindesnes is a long ride out from the port, but we really enjoyed it. I think some of that was compounded by the fact that not a lot else in Kristiansand really appealed to us. There is train ride (sorta like Flam) but it got canceled (don’t know why). There is a cannon museum but I’m not sure that can beat out the view from Norway’s most southern lighthouse! We really liked Lindesnes. It made for two lighthouses in two days but DW and I are major lighthouse collectors. We’ve traveled both US coasts, the Great Lakes, and the Gulf Coast to see US light stations. We love’em. They are always in the most rugged and scenic spots. To add two lighthouses in Norway to our “collection” made this trip extra special.  

 

We got back to the ship in time to walk a few blocks into town and hit a big souvenir shop. Nearly everything we saw in all the souvenir shops in every port was the same. Same hoodies, shirts, mugs and trinkets. But since there was our last stop we wanted to grab a few more items. I bought a hoodie thick and warm enough that I expect I won’t be wearing it more than a few days a year in Texas, but I needed that hoodie!

 

When we got back to our stateroom, DW commented on the haze on our window. I had read some folks commenting about how dirty the Inf Ver window gets during the cruise. Candidly, I thought such was mostly whining but it is so that after a week at sea there is a decent cloud on the windows that does mar the view. So I grabbed a washcloth from our bathroom, put the window down, and went to work to clean it a little. I am tall and certainly wasn’t doing anything crazy or dangerous like leaning way over the window. I could easily wipe down a wide swath of the window with my long arms. What I quickly discovered is that the sea spray had congealed into a thick and sturdy layer of salt that was determined not to come off the glass. It took some real elbow grease to make a dent in it. If you think you can just wipe the window clean you’ll learn, as I did, that is not happening. It would take some cleaning fluid and a lot of work to get that grime off. So, I’m working away ferociously (and largely in vain), and then it happened. As I was scrubbing away I dropped the wash cloth! It fell four or five decks below, landing on the roof of a lifeboat (see picture), where it remained for the rest of the cruise. I guess Celebrity can bill me for one lost washcloth!
 

 

And, as you can tell, I've finally figured out how to insert pictures *into* my report. I changed browsers and suddenly the command to "insert" appeared. Thanks for your patience as I went through this learning process.
 

Tomorrow: the last day of the cruise - a sea day - and the mystery of the stinky toilet solved!
 

Thank you so much for doing this review. You’ve helped me twice as I needed inspiration for Kristiansand next month and also a reminder of how near the Flam railway and Stegastein bus stop are. I really like your writing style too (and the window cleaning!)

[BuckeyeMark]

13 hours ago, Sleepybluegiraffe said:

Thank you so much for doing this review. You’ve helped me twice as I needed inspiration for Kristiansand next month and also a reminder of how near the Flam railway and Stegastein bus stop are. I really like your writing style too (and the window cleaning!)

Thank you very much for your kind words! And I love "sleepybluegiraffe" - there has to be a story behind that name!

[Earthworm Jim]

On 6/2/2024 at 10:12 PM, BuckeyeMark said:

 Bring binocs! You’ll be glad you did.

 

 

Thanks for that! I just packed for my upcoming Norway cruise today and hadn't thought to pack them.

[Sleepybluegiraffe]

10 hours ago, BuckeyeMark said:

Thank you very much for your kind words! And I love "sleepybluegiraffe" - there has to be a story behind that name!

I think I copied it from my sister’s login for something but I don’t know where she got it from 

[marci22]

On 6/4/2024 at 6:46 AM, lovesthebeach2 said:

The key for me was I have a fairly light rain jacket that nothing can get through, so the very windy and cold day we had when we cruised Prins Christian Sund in Greenland, everyone -  including most of the staff on the ship - was on the top deck for the views.  The rubber jacket blocked all wind. If it was very chilly, I wore a light thermal shirt tucked into my pants, a light sweater and the rubber rain jacket. I was warm as toast, and we live in Florida and used to scorching temps, not cold.

I was looking for this post to ask you where you got this jacket. Don't tell me it's 20 years old lol.

[Reba 954]

On 5/28/2024 at 1:52 PM, vkb2751 said:

We were on the same cruise. Taxis were lined up at port and most were for 8 passengers. There were some smaller cars. Also, you could have the same driver pick you up at a set time for return trip

Hello...did you use the taxi?  Just wondering how much into Bruges?  Their are 4 of us, and wondering if cheaper to use taxi?  or Cruise Express at $25 a head...thanks for your time!

[vkb2751]

1 hour ago, Reba 954 said:

Hello...did you use the taxi?  Just wondering how much into Bruges?  Their are 4 of us, and wondering if cheaper to use taxi?  or Cruise Express at $25 a head...thanks for your time!

We took the taxi. Taxis take up to 8 passengers and cost approximately €110 round trip based on meter. We had the driver meet us for return trip. Taxi dropped us in the city center 

[Reba 954]

1 hour ago, vkb2751 said:

We took the taxi. Taxis take up to 8 passengers and cost approximately €110 round trip based on meter. We had the driver meet us for return trip. Taxi dropped us in the city center 

Thank you very much...that sounds very reasonable divided among 4-6 people.