Live from Celebrity APEX: Norwegian Fjords Ex Rotterdam, July 31 - Aug 9, 2023

[Fly and Sail]

Since I ate early, there was enough time to enjoy the Thermal Spa Suite and the Solarium for a while.

 

Thermal Suite is better than on EDGE in my opinion, especially the smell in the locker room which has been prevalent on EDGE, can’t stand it. All is new and shiny, in excellent condition.

 

They now have family hour until 11pm with rowdy, unsupervised kids in the Solarium and that’s just insane. Will talk to Hotel Director tomorrow. They also lock up the jacuzzis at 10 pm which irritated a lot of people toight.

 

[Fly and Sail]

Good morning from Geirangerfjord! 😍

 

[Fly and Sail]

Very lucky once again with the weather! Quite warm and especially DRY!

 

There are also plenty of Photographers out today, contrary to the last Alaska cruise whoch makes those of us with the photo package very happy.

 

 

[Scottishclover]

Wonderful photos of Geiranger. Bringing back lots of memories. Thank you. I hope the weather holds for you.

[Fly and Sail]

22 minutes ago, Scottishclover said:

Wonderful photos of Geiranger. Bringing back lots of memories. Thank you. I hope the weather holds for you.

 

Well, the weather holds, but some crew washing the windows just flooded my cabin without lifting the automated windows up. Isn't that what central window control of these Infinite Veranda's is for?

[hcat]

On 8/2/2023 at 4:49 PM, Fly and Sail said:

Nice Sunset yesterday! Absolutely fantastic, especially after the rocky start in Rotterdam!

 

Beautiful day all around!

 

Amazing!

[hcat]

1 hour ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

Well, the weather holds, but some crew washing the windows just flooded my cabin without lifting the automated windows up. Isn't that what central window control of these Infinite Veranda's is for?

oh my.. someine goofed! did you report it? Hope not too sloshy.

Love the Solarium photos.The entry looks like it has a huge geode.  My grandson loves them.  Did you try the crystal rm.?   

 

kids/ teens taking over the Solarium at night ...hope that is not the new thing or extended to.other shops and itins.

 

Family  hrs are fine and maybe one evening event for teens  but it is an ADULT ONLY area...

[bluwes]

Only just found this thread and can’t wait to follow on. We’re on the Apex next summer with the same itinerary but sailing out of Southampton. We had two similar itineraries cancelled during the Pandemic so can’t wait to read your thoughts. Especially Flam, we were looking to book the train directly, ourselves on the cancelled sailing but this time we’ve used OBC of which we have a decent amount, to book the ships excursion. Will be interested for your thoughts if you do it yourself.

enjoy your cruise .

[Lastdance]

You certainly have some beautiful photos!

 

 

If you meet Silkroad onboard, say hello for me. 

Edited August 4, 2023 by Lastdance

[Fly and Sail]

9 hours ago, hcat said:

oh my.. someine goofed! did you report it? Hope not too sloshy.

Love the Solarium photos.The entry looks like it has a huge geode.  My grandson loves them.  Did you try the crystal rm.?   

 

kids/ teens taking over the Solarium at night ...hope that is not the new thing or extended to.other shops and itins.

 

Family  hrs are fine and maybe one evening event for teens  but it is an ADULT ONLY area...

 

I'm an avid user of all the facilities inside the Thermal Spa Suite. It's pretty much the only quiet place on the ship right now - except today, where someone had the "brilliant" idea to use the outside deck of the Thermal Suite for a Sailaway event for Captains Club invitees (I wasn't invited, a crew member said it was Zenith but no way are there THIS many Zenith members onboard). It was annoying, and I will definitely bring it up tomorrow. IMHO, there are plenty of venues, incl the Retreat Deck, for a sail away, why bother Aqua Class guests and take the view away from the lounge chairs?

[hcat]

they did that on one of our E class cruises...

 

It was quite annoying that Concierge Class guests were invited to that lovely area, and also had several special events while AQ Class guests who pay much more ( usually) were not given any special attention.

 

On other cruises   Concierge Class guests were boarded ahead of AQ and E plus..so they could get to their Sailaway lunch.

 

AQ Class does come with BLU and Thermal suite access but no spa discounts,  special workout classes or other special events.. AQ class now commands higher prices but could use some extras!

[Fly and Sail]

8 minutes ago, hcat said:

AQ Class does come with BLU and Thermal suite access but no spa discounts,  special workout classes or other special events.. AQ class now commands higher prices but could use some extras!

 

I got so used to being in AQ due to the generous casino upgrade offers of $20/night that I'm trying to think how attractive a sailing would be without access to BLU and the Thermal Suite. I don't think I'd like it very much.

 

Similar to staying at the Park Hyatt Tokyo as a non-top-tier Hyatt member who receives free access to the Club at the Park (Onsen, Steam Room, Sauna, Relaxation area) and free breakfast. I don't think I'd spend $1000/night or 30,000 points there without these amenities being included.

[Fly and Sail]

The last two days I had dinner at Oceanview Cafe as I wasn’t in the mood for sitdown dinners at BLU or the MDR’s (menu wasn’t very enticing either).

 

Quality was very good and selection ample, it was also much more quiet than any of the restaurants - I absolutely hate loud environments during meals.

 

So far, Oceanview has always delivered during this trip.

[Fly and Sail]

The way that kids are running wild on this ship is really starting to annoy me. Especially during the 7 (!!) hours of “family time” in the solarium.

There is no supervision either, not by the parents and no Celebrity Staff either. The Guest Relations Director promised two days ago that staff would be placed in the solarium to watch it but so far nothing happened. It’s just a second Royal Caribbean at this point.

 

[terrydtx]

35 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

The way that kids are running wild on this ship is really starting to annoy me. Especially during the 7 (!!) hours of “family time” in the solarium.

There is no supervision either, not by the parents and no Celebrity Staff either. The Guest Relations Director promised two days ago that staff would be placed in the solarium to watch it but so far nothing happened. It’s just a second Royal Caribbean at this point.

 

I thought the Solarium pool was only for adults, is this another unannounced policy change? 

[Fly and Sail]

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

I thought the Solarium pool was only for adults, is this another unannounced policy change? 

Seven hours of family time and the remainder of the day isn’t enforced either. Celebrity also doesn’t show any interest in doing so.

 

They are currently working on my early disembarkation formalities ex Bergen, that way I can stay two more days in Europe rather than having to deal with all this. 😅

 

On a positive note, Flam is very nice today!

 

[busby]

On 7/25/2023 at 4:06 PM, JeanieC,Aston said:

In Olden the hotel has a huge speaker outside of the hotel.

Every cruise ship on leaving gets the same farewell Andrea Bocelli singing Time to say goodbye.

Its blasted all across the fjord,,,makes the hairs stand up on your neck.

 

 

 

 

 

[busby]

It  was amazing, best send off ever, so many tears, 

[Crazy planning mom]

16 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

Seven hours of family time and the remainder of the day isn’t enforced either. Celebrity also doesn’t show any interest in doing so.

 

They are currently working on my early disembarkation formalities ex Bergen, that way I can stay two more days in Europe rather than having to deal with all this. 😅

 

On a positive note, Flam is very nice today!

 

 

Beautiful photos.  Had you always planned to disembark early or is this because you aren't enjoying?  4-11 seems way too much for family hours.  Maybe 4-6 would be reasonable.

[Fly and Sail]

43 minutes ago, Crazy planning mom said:

Beautiful photos.  Had you always planned to disembark early or is this because you aren't enjoying?  4-11 seems way too much for family hours.  Maybe 4-6 would be reasonable.

I was considering it before because of good flight options ex Bergen (Norway in general) but this plus the outlook of just another sea day made me decide for it.

 

I did enjoy this week of nature. Panorama and fresh air are always nice.

 

Keep in mind that this was a comped cruise through the casino so it’s always easier to pull something like that when it’s not your money on the line. 😉

[Crazy planning mom]

1 hour ago, Fly and Sail said:

I was considering it before because of good flight options ex Bergen (Norway in general) but this plus the outlook of just another sea day made me decide for it.

 

I did enjoy this week of nature. Panorama and fresh air are always nice.

 

Keep in mind that this was a comped cruise through the casino so it’s always easier to pull something like that when it’s not your money on the line. 😉

Well, I booked this ship for a winter Caribbean cruise and hope we enjoy it.  It won't be during a school break week.  Glad you are at least enjoying Norway.

Edited August 5, 2023 by Crazy planning mom

[sjwebster]

I’ll chime in on the kids in the solarium pool since my experience is different. I’ve got two kids with me on this cruise, 9 and 12 years old. We’ve been in the solarium most days for family pool time. It’s pretty busy with younger kids starting at 4pm and then tapers off around 6pm as everyone heads to dinner. 
 

Tonight is the first night that we’ve been swimming after dinner (7:30-9:30pm), and there are 4 kids in the pool. Maybe it’s been busier other nights? Or at later times?  I haven’t found the kids to be disruptive anywhere on the ship, but everyone has their own viewpoint. I’m just thankful that my kids have a place to swim where it’s not 60 degrees. 

[sjwebster]

And just a note that on some nights, Camp at Sea has pool games in the Solarium from 9-10pm. That can definitely feel rowdy, but the kids are supervised.

[Fly and Sail]

13 minutes ago, sjwebster said:

And just a note that on some nights, Camp at Sea has pool games in the Solarium from 9-10pm. That can definitely feel rowdy, but the kids are supervised.

I was there on 5 nights this week and no, they are not supervised unless a ghost is doing that job. Email to the Executive Offices with respective images has already been sent out.

[Fly and Sail]

Pretty nice scenery today, another lucky day as far as the weather is concerned. Except for the wind while en route. 😬

 

 

Edited August 5, 2023 by Fly and Sail