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Review/top tips Apex Norway and arctic circle 8-20 July (deluxe porthole)


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LauraS
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Hi all, I get a lot of benefit from reading the forum so I wanted to post my thoughts and tips from our recent Apex cruise to Norway and up into the arctic circle in July in the hope it’s useful for someone else. We sailed in a deluxe porthole on Apex and this was our third Celebrity cruise. The other 2 were on Silhouette.
We chose a deluxe porthole veranda partly for the lower price and on the assumption we could keep air con on if one person was on the balcony but actually you’d have to lock them out to activate aircon. Not a problem but good to note. We had a lovely cruise and did do a book on board for the lower deposit and better terms (UK customers can’t reprice if it drops)!

We both got the thermal suite pass for the whole 12 night cruises - at $249 per person when the best I’d seen pre cruise was £350 per person so don’t believe the ‘always cheaper before you sail messaging’! I do think the thermal suite is worth it if you use it at least every other day.

Food was good but not outstanding and the service varied - Normandie had brilliant service. Le Petit Chef is totally worth it and a great experience to do once. We loved it and the food was great. Rooftop Garden Grill was excellent as was Raw on 5. The buffet was also great as many others have said and the fresh pizza at the back is really good, and handy as we like to sit outside!

As you can see my spend on additional things was middling but we don’t drink much and had got the zero proof at £25pppn months prior. In good news I didn’t buy any more art so I am proud of myself! I bought one bottle of a wine I like and remember from our very first cruise and got the CC 10% off which I’d forgotten about.

Norway is as beautiful as ever and any excursions we did were either planned using the internet or via third party tour providers.

I’ve been influenced by other people talking about MSC and have booked a 7 night cruise for October at less than half the price per night (with premium alcohol as it was barely more than non alcohol on an offer). I was very pleased to find that having sailed with them once in 2012 I got 5% off as well! We can’t afford to do Celebrity more then once every 12-18 months while it’s only Apex in Southampton.

Feel free to ask any questions. As I said, I find this forum really helpful and will happily help others. 

Edited by Sleepybluegiraffe
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Hello, our 6 ports this time were Stavanger, Olden, Flam, Tromso, Honningsvag and Kristiansand. 
Stavanger has things that you can walk to or boat trips up the fjord. For boat trips I’ve used Rodne cruise in 2022 and booked direct with them online. The 4D Viking experience and the maritime museum both near where you dock are good and this year we got the maritime museum at 50% off as it was our second museum after the petroleum museum that we walked to. None of those museums require prior booking and all take card payments or Apple Pay etc. The petroleum museum I’m not sure was worth the price. If you’re interested in engineering or the history of the oil industry you might like it. 
Olden we’ve done the same thing twice - troll cars (modified John deer tractors that seat 7) up to the Briksdal glacier with Olden Adventure and this year we had an excellent guide who gave a great commentary on the coach journey! We also did the 70 minute land train (or wally wagon as we call them because they are for tourists at UK seaside towns) around the village beforehand. At 350 NOK per person I’m not sure it’s worth it but good if you don’t want to walk to the village as you can get off and come back later and we did see both the new and old Olden churches. That we just paid for as we stepped off the ship. 
Flam I highly recommend the Flam railway which you can book via a company called Norway’s Best at half the price charged by Celebrity. We’ve done it twice! We also booked a minibus trip up to the Stegastein viewpoint through Norways’s Best but I’m not entirely sure it was worth it, although the view is fabulous. 
Tromso was very hot the day we were there and we used local bus services with aircon to get around. I bought day passes via the Tromsbillet app and got my partner to download it too so I could send him his ticket. That was cheaper than Celebrity’s shuttle at $15 per person. The modern arctic cathedral is worth a visit in my opinion. The maritime museum is small but I liked it. The Troll museum was quite cool but takes less than an hour to look round. Probably best to either have an interest in trolls and/or be travelling with children. All of these I researched in advance and paid on the day. 
Honningsvag and surrounds are absolutely stunning and I would happily live there! We booked a half day tour with Blue Puffin who were highly recommended online. We got to go up to the north cape, visited 2 fishing villages, met a king crab and a Sami family and their reindeer! Our guide Anita was wonderful. Then we had a little look round the village when we got back and definitely recommend Honi Bakes bakery - the man gets up at 4am to make everything and the coffee is excellent too. 
In Kristiansand I couldn’t see much we wanted to see and some of the museums are further out. I would like to go to the canon museum but I couldn’t make the timings work. I found a round trip boat that goes to the islands just off Kristiansand. We chose to just visit Bragdoya island which is where the locals go to swim. After 5 previous ports that’s was enough of an outing!

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Thanks for your review. We are looking into this itinerary for a future cruise. Did you see the Northern Lights or is it not the right time of year?

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No, it’s midnight sun season instead so the sun didn’t set when we were up in the arctic circle! Which is also pretty cool to experience. We'll have to go one more time as northern lights season is roughly October to March I think and we’ve been in September, May and July so far. 

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On 8/3/2024 at 10:01 AM, Sleepybluegiraffe said:

Hi all, I get a lot of benefit from reading the forum so I wanted to post my thoughts and tips from our recent Apex cruise to Norway and up into the arctic circle in July in the hope it’s useful for someone else. We sailed in a deluxe porthole on Apex and this was our third Celebrity cruise. The other 2 were on Silhouette.
We chose a deluxe porthole veranda partly for the lower price and on the assumption we could keep air con on if one person was on the balcony but actually you’d have to lock them out to activate aircon. Not a problem but good to note. We had a lovely cruise and did do a book on board for the lower deposit and better terms (UK customers can’t reprice if it drops)!

We both got the thermal suite pass for the whole 12 night cruises - at $249 per person when the best I’d seen pre cruise was £350 per person so don’t believe the ‘always cheaper before you sail messaging’! I do think the thermal suite is worth it if you use it at least every other day.

Food was good but not outstanding and the service varied - Normandie had brilliant service. Le Petit Chef is totally worth it and a great experience to do once. We loved it and the food was great. Rooftop Garden Grill was excellent as was Raw on 5. The buffet was also great as many others have said and the fresh pizza at the back is really good, and handy as we like to sit outside!

As you can see my spend on additional things was middling but we don’t drink much and had got the zero proof at £25pppn months prior. In good news I didn’t buy any more art so I am proud of myself! I bought one bottle of a wine I like and remember from our very first cruise and got the CC 10% off which I’d forgotten about.

Norway is as beautiful as ever and any excursions we did were either planned using the internet or via third party tour providers.

I’ve been influenced by other people talking about MSC and have booked a 7 night cruise for October at less than half the price per night (with premium alcohol as it was barely more than non alcohol on an offer). I was very pleased to find that having sailed with them once in 2012 I got 5% off as well! We can’t afford to do Celebrity more then once every 12-18 months while it’s only Apex in Southampton.

Feel free to ask any questions. As I said, I find this forum really helpful and will happily help others. 

I can’t figure out if you step out thru the porthole to reach your normal balcony or the porthole is your view on the balcony - a big round open air porthole?  I’ve seen pictures but still can’t quite figure it out.

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Posted (edited)

The porthole frames the view, so instead of a traditional rectangular balcony viewing area being a straight wooden rail and a rectangle of space up to the balcony above, the porthole balcony has a straight metal edge and a semi circle of space. It didn’t feel any different to previous rectangular balconies to us in terms of enjoyment. You step out of the door onto the balcony the same way. It’s a slightly smaller floor space I think. 
I’ve added a photo which is a lazy photo from the bed. The sliding balcony door and the balcony floor are between me and the porthole (which is forgotten is half glass). 

27EFA009-3CA8-4B89-B5E9-456F64A6692A.jpeg

 

Edited by Sleepybluegiraffe
Photos upside down
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11 hours ago, Sleepybluegiraffe said:

The porthole frames the view, so instead of a traditional rectangular balcony viewing area being a straight wooden rail and a rectangle of space up to the balcony above, the porthole balcony has a straight metal edge and a semi circle of space. It didn’t feel any different to previous rectangular balconies to us in terms of enjoyment. You step out of the door onto the balcony the same way. It’s a slightly smaller floor space I think. 
I’ve added a photo which is a lazy photo from the bed. The sliding balcony door and the balcony floor are between me and the porthole (which is forgotten is half glass). 

We were in DPV 7118 on the Apex and didn't have the window washing equipment obstruction. We had no issue with the AC not working if the balcony slider wasn't locked. The door had to be closed completely but not locked. 

Apex.jpg

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, doghog said:

We were in DPV 7118 on the Apex and didn't have the window washing equipment obstruction. We had no issue with the AC not working if the balcony slider wasn't locked. The door had to be closed completely but not locked. 

Apex.jpg

Agreed, seems to work pretty much like any normal balcony, door must be fully closed..I have never had to lock one..

 

To OP, nice port review..thanks

Edited by PTC DAWG
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1 hour ago, Sleepybluegiraffe said:

That is the much discussed window washing equipment which didn’t bother me at all and the glass roof of Eden

did it move away at times,  ?  room looks great otherwise,  but view would annoy me.  

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Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, doghog said:

We were in DPV 7118 on the Apex and didn't have the window washing equipment obstruction. We had no issue with the AC not working if the balcony slider wasn't locked. The door had to be closed completely but not locked. 

Apex.jpg

Thanks for posting this, we just booked 7116 for May 2025 

Edited by z4ltw
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9 minutes ago, z4ltw said:

Thanks for posting this, we just booked 7116 for May 2025 

You welcome. We will be on the Edge this September in another DPV. Again cabin 7118. 

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1 hour ago, Covepointcruiser said:

It looks like the balconies they call “Sheltered” on the QM2.    Very usable even in bad weather.

Not our experience, no matter the weather. 

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10 hours ago, hcat said:

did it move away at times,  ?  room looks great otherwise,  but view would annoy me.  

Yes it moved into different parked positions and never felt in the way as you naturally look up and out at the view and not down. 

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