Celebrity Apex Review
5.0 / 5.0
New ship fantastic, food offerings need help
Review for the British Isles & Western Europe Cruise on Celebrity Apex
snowskier1083
10+ Cruises • Age 70s
Rating by category
Cabin
Value for Money
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Dining
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Entertainment
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Sail Date: Sep 2022
We chose the Celebrity Apex September 1, 2022, sailing from Amsterdam, to explore England, Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original itinerary included a stop in Dublin, which was removed from our itinerary rather late in the game. We decided to take the cruise anyway, with an added stop in Portland/Dorset, UK. The ports were fabulous, and we mostly did non-ship shore excursions. The two ship's tours we took (Leeds and Canterbury in Dover, and In the Steps of the Beatles in Liverpool) were fine, but big-bus tours are not the best way to see anything in my opinion. Our other shore excursions were informative, exciting and provided an excellent way to see the areas we visited.
We chose anytime dining, and had made reservations for one night in the Fine Cut Steakhouse. We enjoyed that enough to book another evening there. However, the food on the Apex left a lot to be desired. We chose Celebrity because we feel that it is an upgraded experience, including the dining aspect, but we were very disappointed. While I like the idea of having four main dining rooms to explore, we eliminated one of those after our first meal there. Sadly, the food was sorely lacking in all of them, but two meals were inedible in each. I had ordered a pork chop which I could not cut at all. Another night, the offering was lobster ravioli that I sent back after tasting it--it did not taste right. The other offerings were ok, and when we asked our waiters for recommdations, they were quite vocal about what NOT to order. It was quite strange to prefer the food in the Oceanview Cafe! The buffet breakfast was a huge hit with the four of us in our group.
Embarkation would have been better but for two problems: we were required to have Covid-19 tests before embarking, and our Amsterdam appointments were a bust, so the only option was to take a test at the dock. After shelling out another $100 each, (we had prepaid for testing that didn't happen) we were tested and we passed. The other glitch was that, due to water levels, the ship had to sail earlier, which put more people in the station than were booked for each appointment time. But, we made it!
Cabin Review
Our cabin was delightful! We loved the infinite verandah concept, and would probably book it again. One thing that bothered me was the lack of electric outlets on each side of the bed--with two cpaps, it was a good thing I had brought my extension cord. There was a box on the desk where you can charge all your devices, so that was a plus, but the lack of adequate outlets at the bed was disappointing. Also, to nitpick, the dryer that is provided is so big and heavy that I had trouble using it each time. I understand that cruise lines have opted to not let us bring our personal hairdryers on board, but give us one that we can use. Cabin service was excellent, and Jarot kept everything so nicely done. Kudos to the cabin staff!
Port Reviews
Amsterdam
We ended up staying two nights before the cruise, and one night after, in Amsterdam, our embarkation city. With so much to see, it was vital to have enough time to explore! A visit to the Van Gogh Museum, then the Rijks Museum along with the Anne Frank House, made up our first day. The second day, we opted for a tour to Volendam and Marken to explore the countryside beyond Amsterdam. We enjoyed that as well. Our day of debarkation, we explored the Jewish Quarter, seeing the Joods Museum along with the Portugese Synagogue, and walked around the city in a district we had not previously explored. I feel that we still did not have enough time to see everything we wanted to see.
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