SbbquilterUT

Apex docked at the Centraal Station area this summer - easy walk to everything and tram if you want to use it. Can highly recommend the Iceland/Ireland cruise. Then we tacked on Norway to make it a very nice trip.

According to the rules you will not get any choice in cabin but you can give it a try.

We happen to use Allianz for an annual plan so that it covers more than just the cruise including trips here in the US.

I choose the non-alcoholic package because I drink coffee as soon as Cafe AlBiacio opens in the morning, and that is not just one. Then tea in the afternoon as well as club soda from the bar during the day. We use our Elite drinks for one pre-dinner drink which we enjoy. The total of $117 for the week has always worked in my favor.

Did not seem to be a lot of seating and be aware that it was smoking on the starboard side. Did really enjoy the rooftop garden area just around the corner to sit and visit.

Bermuda in January is cool so I would choose a rain jacket with a hood instead of umbrella. I was not aware there were cruises that included Bermuda at that time of year. We really like visiting Bermuda.

What I thought was odd is that the cabana is right on the walkway across from the Magic carpet, not facing the pool and is therefore not private at all.

We have sailed in deck 10 - cabin 1032 on the Eclipse and Silhouette and really like the location and how quiet it is tucked in sideways. Last cruise was on the Apex and our deluxe interior on deck 11 was amazing. I know interior is not for everyone but we sleep like babies in the dark, comfy bed.

We do too - along with our Global Entry card, back up credit card and a bit of emergency cash. Stays on our person or in the safe- makes me comfortable.

Sounds like a lovely trip - thanks for sharing. We have found Pickleball nets set up on the basketball courts on RCCL - had a bit of fun there.

The cabanas are along the walkway facing the Magic Carpet with no sun or loungers - were mostly empty on our sailings this summer.

Did not have any while sailing this summer - not sure where they could set up a court.

The actual reasons are important when I read reviews - we listened to a lady complain to our lovely host because she was not aware it might be cold in Iceland and Norway.......

Also depends on issues at the port itself. We usually walk off as we fly and have limited flights to get us home. Off the Symphony in Miami. (5200 passengers that week) there was an issue with the facial recognition software so it was slow and at one point they asked us to stop as they were not moving anyone. In Miami, Seattle and Amsterdam we were able to walk off and make flights in the 10:30am time window (a bit of teeth gnashing on my part but limited choices). So the answer is most of the time it works fine but we are prepared for plan B.

Always carry my own onto the ship - standard 22" bags are no problem and perhaps even a 24" would fit as well.

When are you sailing?

Another thought - go to one of the dining rooms after boarding and introduce your group. It may be easier for them if they seated you in the same area of one restaurant as you can order off any of the menus (shared kitchen). That way the wait staff would know you.

We sailed her for 3 weeks in August and had a great time. We ate in all the restaurants then settled on Normandy and Cosmopolitan usually, but you can ask for the menu for any of the restaurants as they share a kitchen and you can eat off any no matter the dining room are in.

We did Iceland/Ireland and Norway Fjords on the Celebrity Apex, sailing from Amsterdam last August. Wonderful cruise with beautiful scenery but not like any Caribbean or warm Med cruise. We did use the hot tubs during sail away from Akureyri, Iceland as well as while in Ireland and Amsterdam but there were not many people in the pool. This was a physically busy trip and we found the evenings nice for relaxing and enjoying the ship (loved the theater format).

We needed to reach out to Celebrity to make sure our refund was processed. After that it was pretty quick.

Generally the best time to sail is the most expensive - August is heavy travel month in Europe and nicest weather in Norway and Iceland. Currently there is discussion of stopping cruise/ boat travel into the deep fjords due to pollution concerns so that would certainly alter any Norway trips. It was beautiful. Our cruises sailed from Amsterdam, a favorite port for us.

We enjoyed deck 9 AQ on Alaska cruise because we could sit outside even if it was raining and the overhang kept us dry. Because it was cool we did not have any noise from pool deck above. Really love those deck 11 AQ that are aft - not much overhang but larger balcony, easy exit to outside track area of 11 and then quick access to the Sunset bar below. We did not have any issues with noise from movies or basketball court.

Cruise only works well for us - we are lightweight drinkers and do not require much internet time.

Sailed Apex this summer - loved our larger interior cabin and slept like babies. Did not like the Martini bar area - music was usually too loud and limited seating in there. Loved Cafe Biacio for relaxing but only if there was no music. Really enjoyed the Roof Garden area but what they played on the movie screen was interesting - same loop of road racing of home made racers (very funny but not for 19 days). Another negative in my mind is no access to any view from the front of the ship since that is all Retreat access. Four dining venues was nice except there was always a wait even when we had reservations. Wonderful trip but we will return to S or M class ships. Having said that we joined friends on RCCL Symphony and never again would I go on a large ship.

We have cleared customs on TA's in a couple ways - Barcelona to Miami, we stopped at San Juan so Immigration officers came on board and we had to clear before going ashore (took about 2 hours). Also landed at Tampa with no US stop - immigration took about an hour wait even though we walked off with our luggage quite early.