First cruise on celebrity, narrowed it down to 2 choices

[NMTraveller]

Can you move your trip for July or August?  If so I would do the Fjords.

Edited Tuesday at 10:49 AM by NMTraveller

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Amsterdam is a mess on now , massive party city now 

Not a place we want to go to now

The reason why Apex out of UK goes to the EU probably has to do with tax laws , like in the Med if the ships don’t visit a non EU country they have to charge VAT 

 

[MyriamS]

1 hour ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Amsterdam is a mess on now , massive party city now 

Not a place we want to go to now

The reason why Apex out of UK goes to the EU probably has to do with tax laws , like in the Med if the ships don’t visit a non EU country they have to charge VAT 

 

Cork and Dublin are already in the EU, so that doesn't explain why they would start in Amsterdam.

[swjumbo]

Bet you’re glad you asked the question!

 

I did the Norway cruise last year. Yes nice but once you’ve seen one fjord you’ve seen them all and if the weather’s bad you’re stuck on a ship with lots of public space but very few places inside to sit quietly with a book and a glass of something special.
 

We were there in July last year and froze.

 

Ask any Scot (I’m one) May is the best time to go. Do not believe previous comments.

 

We live an hour from Southampton and would go on the Amsterdam sailing in an instant. 

We did a similar trip (around the UK) during Covid, when the restrictions were temporarily lifted from Southampton, and it’s been the best cruise we’ve ever done.

Edited Tuesday at 01:17 PM by swjumbo

[Caipi]

1 hour ago, swjumbo said:

I did the Norway cruise last year. Yes nice but once you’ve seen one fjord you’ve seen them all and if the weather’s bad you’re stuck on a ship with lots of public space but very few places inside to sit quietly with a book and a glass of something special.
 

We were there in July last year and froze.

 

We did a Norway cruise this year in August and yes, it was beautiful but we both thought after having been to Iceland (not on a cruise) that kind of scenery is just nothing really new. (But the Briksdalen Glacier was still amazing.)  And yes, in Alesund we had 17 C and light rain, in Andalsnes 17 C, in Olden 12 C and light rain, in Bergen we finally saw the sun 🙂 and the temperature even reached 20 C! 

However, on Queen Mary 2 there are lots of spaces to sit quietly with a book and a glass of something special. 🙂 In- and outside.

Edited Tuesday at 02:49 PM by Caipi

[the penguins]

16 hours ago, Thisguylikestocruise said:

These are the specific cruises I’m considering.  

you have been given a lot of conflicting information but hopefully the following may help:

E Class ships:

Suite passengers are the only ones that have access to the forward facing observation lounge. 

Excluding the Suites "real" balconies are restricted to a handful of Sunset Balconies and a few other cabins near the bow. The vast majority of the other cabins just have a window that opens.

Eclipse:

All passengers have access to a forward facing observation lounge.

85% of the cabins have real balconies

The ship is scheduled for a major upgrade/refit in 2025.

WIFI

All X's ships have Starlink

Scenic Cruising:

The Norway Cruise:

has little scenic cruising. Look at the itinerary and you will see that, as you are docked for most of the day,  the only "scenic cruising" will be early in the morning or as you leave each port which is when you will be getting ready for or eating dinner.

The UK cruise:

Few of the ports are anywhere near the cities featured so all will involve long bus/coach transfers. 

Taking the train from Amsterdam to London:

An interesting journey but it does involve changing trains.

Just curious:

How did you select your two choices?

Personally I think X's two most interesting itineraries are: UK/Iceland and the Baltic States.

Choice is good, Happy planning.

 

 

[DarrenM]

8 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Amsterdam is a mess on now , massive party city now 

Not a place we want to go to now

The reason why Apex out of UK goes to the EU probably has to do with tax laws , like in the Med if the ships don’t visit a non EU country they have to charge VAT 

 

and whats wrong with a party city?