Emmauk

I also found Viking is a step up from celebrity. Their staff to guest radio is better so is the square footage per passenger . It never feels crowded. I think the quality of the food is much better too. The included excursion tends to be a bus driving around for 2 hours, I am not keen on that. There is no children on Viking. The average age of travellers is probably older on Viking too. Overall I prefer Viking but they are a bit more expensive.

I had done a 14 day Norway cruise and the most impressive ports are Geiranger and Lofoten island. if you can have a sop at the lofoten island it would offer very different and stunning scenery

I have been on Viking and Hapag-Lloyd. I liked both would cruise with them again. Viking is premium level and more relaxed. I don’t think you need a jacket/ tie for dinner at the restaurant. Their buffet at night is really great and contains all the items from the main restaurant, so no need to dress up. There is no formal night. They have some alcohol 🍷 supplied at meal time for free. So you are not paying for someone else’s alcohol package. They have one included tour per destination. I would say it is not that interesting and I would rather organise a private tour my self. Hapag-Lloyd ( expedition) has much more elaborate dinner service. Normally 7-5 courses, silver service etc.. For me it is quite tiring to have such a long meal every night. Most people dressed smart casual and there are formal nights too. It is definitely more upscale but for me that t is not necessarily as I was mainly focused on wildlife etc. I have booked with them again this August to Arctic but will try to have buffet if is available.

I have booked late May cruise is well. I think they are scheduled for all the ports in Japan and should be OK to go ahead. Maybe book flight with Celebrity is a good idea. You can book Japan hotel later on or have a flexible booking.

Just my two cents, if one check the Yokohama cruise terminal schedule https://www.cruisetimetables.com/yokohama-japan-cruise-ship-schedule.html It shows all the cruise ship scheduled to depart from there. March 2024 and April 2024 (up to 21st) schedule shows no Celebrity cruise ship at all. So it is highly unlikely these cruise are going to happen.

I had stayed at Split for holidays before. I would say for one day, Split is a very interesting town to wonder around. Lots of things to see, nice food and bars, great shoes shopping! Krka waterfalls is wonderful if you are interested in nature. Beautiful, crystal clear water and very organised. The waterfall national park can be very busy. I have enclosed a couple of photos of the waterfall.