Scandinavia/Russia on Apex 2022

[tfred]

This is a 12 night cruise with a May 26 2022 start from AMS.  a few questions

 

• anyone done anything like this on Celebrity?  The ports seem appropriate for a large ship and nothing seems to be gained by going smaller (eg Viking Ocean)
• We normally do a veranda or AQ is the price difference isn't too big - we like AQ.  That said, the Sky Suite seems to intrigue me.  Veranda is $3500pp.  AQ is $4600.  Sky is $6800.  We aren't going here again anytime soon.  Is the Sky (and Retreat) worth it?  The outdoor area looks great but if its too cold then that may be a problem
• I don't see any real rush to make these reservations now.  Prices seem to be "list" and other than AI no incentives offered.  Lower cost airfare but I don't need that right now.  

 

 

 

[markeb]

We've not done this on Celebrity. We did a similar cruise from the UK on Royal (Jewel of the Seas) several years ago. Looking at the itinerary, that's an unusual number of sea days, so I'm wondering if you are missing ports due to the size of the ship? It's also interesting that they have a cruise map posted for the British Islands cruise right before that one, but not for the cruise you're looking at...

 

We had been cruising Royal's Junior Suites, but the markup for our cruise was absurd, and you didn't get any of the benefits you get in a Sky Suite on X. But our cruise included Copenhagen, which that cruise does not. I'd have to look again, but I'm pretty sure we only had 2 sea days (out from the UK and back from  on a 12 night cruise, with the overnight in St Petersburg. The number of sea days makes that a tougher call on a Sky Suite; you'd be on the ship more than we were.

 

I really hope someone's taken a larger ship in Stockholm. Jewel is listed at 90,000 tons and Apex at 129,500. The sail into Stockholm through the estuaries is worth the cruise (get up early!) if it's a similar experience. And I'm really wondering if ship's size is keeping you out of Copenhagen, and that would be a pretty big draw back for me.

[tfred]

5 minutes ago, markeb said:

We've not done this on Celebrity. We did a similar cruise from the UK on Royal (Jewel of the Seas) several years ago. Looking at the itinerary, that's an unusual number of sea days, so I'm wondering if you are missing ports due to the size of the ship? It's also interesting that they have a cruise map posted for the British Islands cruise right before that one, but not for the cruise you're looking at...

 

We had been cruising Royal's Junior Suites, but the markup for our cruise was absurd, and you didn't get any of the benefits you get in a Sky Suite on X. But our cruise included Copenhagen, which that cruise does not. I'd have to look again, but I'm pretty sure we only had 2 sea days (out from the UK and back from  on a 12 night cruise, with the overnight in St Petersburg. The number of sea days makes that a tougher call on a Sky Suite; you'd be on the ship more than we were.

 

I really hope someone's taken a larger ship in Stockholm. Jewel is listed at 90,000 tons and Apex at 129,500. The sail into Stockholm through the estuaries is worth the cruise (get up early!) if it's a similar experience. And I'm really wondering if ship's size is keeping you out of Copenhagen, and that would be a pretty big draw back for me.

I am ok with the number of sea days - actually like a few anyway.  I like the Baltic trip since the cities visited have their own existing port "close" to town.  Some Med cruises dock an hour or more away from the city visited (Rome, Florence).  

 

However the idea of every day being a touring day is not fun to me.  I like the idea of just hanging on the ship and relaxing along the way.  Given the length of the cruise (and we like more than 7 days) The Retreat becomes interesting

 

The tradeoff for CPH for OSL is ok for me.  The sail into OSL looks interesting.  Same with HEL.  I had done that on a Silja Ferry years ago and it was great

 

 

[SunnyTodayFL]

I just put a deposit on the Celeb Silhouette’s 7/17/2021 Scandanavia & Russia trip from Southampton/London.   That one has an overnight in Copenhagen in addition to St.P.    If the trip is cancelled this summer, I figured I would flip to the one next year.   Also, I am thinking that the new “AI” program (booze+tips+some wifi) may be X’s new normal (making cruising ‘all inclusive’ does seem like a very good marketing strategy) but they sure gutted the value of my Elite status.  So - I will wait for better perks when things open up before putting down any more deposits. 

[markeb]

8 minutes ago, SunnyTodayFL said:

I just put a deposit on the Celeb Silhouette’s 7/17/2021 Scandanavia & Russia trip from Southampton/London.   That one has an overnight in Copenhagen in addition to St.P.    If the trip is cancelled this summer, I figured I would flip to the one next year.   Also, I am thinking that the new “AI” program (booze+tips+some wifi) may be X’s new normal (making cruising ‘all inclusive’ does seem like a very good marketing strategy) but they sure gutted the value of my Elite status.  So - I will wait for better perks when things open up before putting down any more deposits. 

 

That would be nice with the overnight! We really enjoyed Copenhagen, and it may have been the one stop we would have like more time to visit. But I think it was our first stop.

[markeb]

14 minutes ago, tfred said:

I am ok with the number of sea days - actually like a few anyway.  I like the Baltic trip since the cities visited have their own existing port "close" to town.  Some Med cruises dock an hour or more away from the city visited (Rome, Florence).  

 

However the idea of every day being a touring day is not fun to me.  I like the idea of just hanging on the ship and relaxing along the way.  Given the length of the cruise (and we like more than 7 days) The Retreat becomes interesting

 

The tradeoff for CPH for OSL is ok for me.  The sail into OSL looks interesting.  Same with HEL.  I had done that on a Silja Ferry years ago and it was great

 

 

 

Sounds like you've been to the area in the past?

 

I didn't know anything about Visby; looks interesting. Tallinn was our "unwinding" stop from St Petersburg. If you're able to walk, once you take the shuttle from the port, everything's walkable. The old churches at the top of the hill were amazing, as was the town square. When we were in port, there was a local fest going on, with performers, and some pretty amazing local food (and beer...). Wife's wine, which was probably French or German. Both photos are from Tallinn.

 

Our I think final stop was Gothenburg, which was interesting in some ways, but we were probably beat by then. But we did literally dock next to Volvo...

 

And I agree the number of sea days makes the Retreat and Sky Suite benefits more interesting. We did NOT spend much time on the pool deck, mostly because we had so few sea days (we really wanted to see the ports), but it was also kind of chilly up there...

[cruzzzinma]

The benefit of smaller ships is that they can sail up the Neva River and can dock close to the Hermitage if space is available rather than the docking at the industrial ports is further from the city.

[kwokpot]

It's a great itinerary. You can do a private two day tour in St. Petersburg. Tallinn is a beautiful city you can do on you own, easy walk from the pier. Stockholm is another wonderful city. And Olso has some amazing architecture. I would do this itinerary in a flash!

Picture below is the Oslo Opera House where the roof is public space and you can walk all around it. Oslo has the highest concentration of EV in the world. There are electric cars everywhere and even a self driving electric bus that's being tested.

[kwokpot]

Tallinn Town Hall Square 

[ECCruise]

For the prices of the Sky Suite, you likely could easily do a smaller ship.  (No way it would be worth $6600 extra over veranda on a port extensive sailing).

 

Small ships dock right in St. Pbg.  Some do 3 days there instead of 2. Big ships dock outside and often there are a number of ships docked there.  

[tfred]

2 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

For the prices of the Sky Suite, you likely could easily do a smaller ship.  (No way it would be worth $6600 extra over veranda on a port extensive sailing).

 

Small ships dock right in St. Pbg.  Some do 3 days there instead of 2. Big ships dock outside and often there are a number of ships docked there.  

I have look at Viking - they are in the $6k range as well.  My cousin did a VO cruise and loved it. No Oslo though but that is secondary port for us

[ECCruise]

2 minutes ago, tfred said:

I have look at Viking - they are in the $6k range as well.  My cousin did a VO cruise and loved it. No Oslo though but that is secondary port for us

Consider Azamara also.  They do a 14 day in June 2022 that has 3 full days in St. Petersburg,  Also Warnemunde and the Kiel Canal.  

[tfred]

42 minutes ago, markeb said:

 

Sounds like you've been to the area in the past?

 

I didn't know anything about Visby; looks interesting. Tallinn was our "unwinding" stop from St Petersburg. If you're able to walk, once you take the shuttle from the port, everything's walkable. The old churches at the top of the hill were amazing, as was the town square. When we were in port, there was a local fest going on, with performers, and some pretty amazing local food (and beer...). Wife's wine, which was probably French or German. Both photos are from Tallinn.

 

Our I think final stop was Gothenburg, which was interesting in some ways, but we were probably beat by then. But we did literally dock next to Volvo...

 

And I agree the number of sea days makes the Retreat and Sky Suite benefits more interesting. We did NOT spend much time on the pool deck, mostly because we had so few sea days (we really wanted to see the ports), but it was also kind of chilly up there...

 

 

I worked for Fujifilm and we did technical advice for onboard photo concessionaires.  These folks were based in UK and did a variety of lines both large and small.  They had the Silja Baltic ferry business and traveled between Helsinki and Riga, among other ports and I got to go along.  Those ferries were the precursor to RCCL ships with an interior courtyard atrium - really big.  The CEO of Silja came to RCCL with that concept

 

That said, working on ships is different than sailing on those ships 

[tfred]

11 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

Consider Azamara also.  They do a 14 day in June 2022 that has 3 full days in St. Petersburg,  Also Warnemunde and the Kiel Canal.  

have you sailed on Azamara ?  Just wondering what the experience is like - food, vibe...

 

also some concern of their long term viability

[ECCruise]

16 minutes ago, tfred said:

have you sailed on Azamara ?  Just wondering what the experience is like - food, vibe...

 

also some concern of their long term viability

Yes, many times.  Have several more booked. Food very good.  Small ship feel, well travelled pax.  No big entertainment (no issue for us on port intensive sailings).

Would put their viability probably better than the majors since they are not overloaded in debt with Sycamore Partners as owner with deep pockets.  Plus, they just bought a 4th ship a week or so ago.

[keesar]

4 hours ago, tfred said:

This is a 12 night cruise with a May 26 2022 start from AMS.  a few questions

 

• anyone done anything like this on Celebrity?  The ports seem appropriate for a large ship and nothing seems to be gained by going smaller (eg Viking Ocean)
• We normally do a veranda or AQ is the price difference isn't too big - we like AQ.  That said, the Sky Suite seems to intrigue me.  Veranda is $3500pp.  AQ is $4600.  Sky is $6800.  We aren't going here again anytime soon.  Is the Sky (and Retreat) worth it?  The outdoor area looks great but if its too cold then that may be a problem
• I don't see any real rush to make these reservations now.  Prices seem to be "list" and other than AI no incentives offered.  Lower cost airfare but I don't need that right now.  

 

 

 

 

Our cruise with Constellation had 2 full days in St. Petersburg.  Be aware that the average temps in May have highs in the low 60's and lows in the 40's.  Too cool for me sunning and swimming.

[ECCruise]

11 minutes ago, keesar said:

 

Our cruise with Constellation had 2 full days in St. Petersburg.  Be aware that the average temps in May have highs in the low 60's and lows in the 40's.  Too cool for me sunning and swimming.

We did the Constellation as well with 2 full days in St. PBG.  Unfortunately, now some of the sailings (including this one) sail at 1:00 PM on day 2, really shortening that day.

[angela miller]

4 hours ago, tfred said:

This is a 12 night cruise with a May 26 2022 start from AMS.  a few questions

 

• anyone done anything like this on Celebrity?  The ports seem appropriate for a large ship and nothing seems to be gained by going smaller (eg Viking Ocean)
• We normally do a veranda or AQ is the price difference isn't too big - we like AQ.  That said, the Sky Suite seems to intrigue me.  Veranda is $3500pp.  AQ is $4600.  Sky is $6800.  We aren't going here again anytime soon.  Is the Sky (and Retreat) worth it?  The outdoor area looks great but if its too cold then that may be a problem
• I don't see any real rush to make these reservations now.  Prices seem to be "list" and other than AI no incentives offered.  Lower cost airfare but I don't need that right now.  

 

 

 

We did this cruise with three days in St Petersburg. Loved it... one of our favorites. We did aqua and were pleased. Took the celebrity 3 day tour with small group in St Petersburg and they did a wonderful job... you will be exhausted. We were up and out if the ship by 6:30 day two and three. Enjoy!!

[markeb]

33 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

We did the Constellation as well with 2 full days in St. PBG.  Unfortunately, now some of the sailings (including this one) sail at 1:00 PM on day 2, really shortening that day.

I looked at the itinerary, but not the departure from St Petersburg. I’d really look for a cruise that gives 2 full days, 3 even better (5-6 pm departure) if at all possible. Even the independent tours are going to be rushing losing a half day!

[ECCruise]

2 minutes ago, markeb said:

I looked at the itinerary, but not the departure from St Petersburg. I’d really look for a cruise that gives 2 full days, 3 even better (5-6 pm departure) if at all possible. Even the independent tours are going to be rushing losing a half day!

Yes.

Our independent tour would have missed a good bit on the 2nd day had we needed to be back before noon (which the tour operator would want to do with a 1:00 PM sailing).

[markeb]

6 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

Yes.

Our independent tour would have missed a good bit on the 2nd day had we needed to be back before noon (which the tour operator would want to do with a 1:00 PM sailing).

 

We did ship's tours (yes, I know...) and if I remember correctly, we were at the Winter Palace the last afternoon. Probably the only cruise where I really regret not booking a private tour...

 

But a day and a half on a bus, and you still have to budget to lose an hour on the first morning just getting through immigration.

 

Edited: Took a quick look at pictures, and we did an amazing tour of the Orthodox Churches on that last afternoon. Would not have wanted to miss that!

Edited February 17, 2021 by markeb

[dabear]

We did a Baltic cruise 2 years ago on the Eclipse. Great cruise &our favorite ports were St Petersburg & Tallin. Be sure to find out where the ship is docking in Stockholm. One of the docks(not ours) is 2 hours away from town & limits your time in town. 

[trivia addict]

Whichever line or cabin choice you make, it is most important that you have at least two full days in SPB. Anything less, and you will be sorely disappointed that you went all that way and missed so much.

I strongly recommend a private over ship tour.

[Mr. Click]

It is a wonderful trip no matter who you go with.  We did it with Celebrity on the Silhouette a few years ago and started in Stockholm.  The sail away through the archapelago is beautiful. Tallin is a great stop for walking. I found a great self guided Tallin walking tour on here and we used that a lot.  St. Petersburg really needs as much time as you can get.  Getting off the ship the first time is a long, slow process. Other trips off and on the ship are quicker.  If the trip is port intensive I would not spend the money on the suite.  You won't be spending that much time onboard and yes, the weather can be chilly, you just never know that far north.

[kwokpot]

4 hours ago, dabear said:

 Be sure to find out where the ship is docking in Stockholm. One of the docks(not ours) is 2 hours away from town & limits your time in town. 

Agreed. If the ship is docking in Nynashamin there's advance planning that would make things much easier. While there is a train station nearby that takes you into Stockholm they have only a few windows that sells tkts and obviously when the whole ship pours off to buy tkts you can imagine the lines and waits that ensue. There's also a the machine on the platform but the same thing happens. What one should do is go onto the internet and buy an online ticket that gets sent to your mobile phone. Had I known that I would have done it in advance and have the tickets all before getting off the ship. As it was I had to let about 3 trains go by before someone told me about the website. They don't sell tickets onboard the train,you must have purchased tickets before you board.

Edited February 18, 2021 by kwokpot