It was great to see all of these Baltic cities and towns - would have liked to see St. Petersburg, but understand why we didn’t port there - it didn’t stop us from taking the cruise. We enjoyed having a day at sea between some of our port excursions. Although there were some rainy days - it was better to be in 70 degree weather in July rather than 90+
Embarkation
5 out of 5
We were able to embark via The Retreat priority line. From the time we entered the terminal in Amsterdam until we were on board took 20 minutes.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
We dined mostly in the Luminea restaurant where we had the same window table, same waiters and wine steward. We did fine in the Cosmopolitan restaurant a couple of times for dinner and had a good experience there as well. We were in the Open Dining plan - we never made a reservation, but were always seated right away. We did have lunch at Le petite Bistro. The service was good, but the food was not worth the $20 per person up charge.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
The only onboard activity that we participated in was a Trivia game in The Retreat one afternoon. It was fun, but I was there to relax and read.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We only attended to Comedian on the second night in The Theater. He was funny and we were encouraged to go by another couple who wanted to see the show.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
The staff at The Luminea and The Retreat knew us by name and what we like to drink and eat. Our cabin steward also addressed us by our name and always asked if he could do anything for us. We always had enough of the amenities that we needed.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
We love the APEX and are booked on it again in March and April.
We stayed in Amsterdam before and after the cruise. The old city is charming, but crowded. All of the merchants spoke English and there were plenty of things to do. We walked around the old city on our first day waiting for our hotel room to become available. From our hotel room I was able to take some photos of the APEX coming into port for our cruise. Having spent time in the city before the cruise allowed us to determine what we wanted to do and see when we returned after the cruise. One thing was to do a canal boat you.
We spent the first of our two days in the Old City. We took the shuttle and a city map to explore on our own. It was easy to get around. The main visitor draw was The Royal Palace. We opted to walk around - duck into the German Church, peek into shops and have lunch at an outdoor restaurant.
We took the Wonderful Copenhagen Excursion. We had a young and energetic guide. We walked a lot, but it was a beautiful day and there were many things to see and eat. We needed another day.
Tallinn is a charming town with lots of history. Our guide was very knowledgeable and accommodating. Walking some of the cobblestone streets are a challenge for you feet and ankles.
We selected the last time to disembark 9am - because we were not flying back home and were remaining in Amsterdam. We vacated our cabin at 7:30 and had breakfast in Luminea restaurant. After breakfast we went to The Retreat and relaxed until we were called to disembark. We were escorted by a staff member to the gangway. It was all very easy and stress free - once of the ship we went to the numbered designated area to retrieve our bags. Once we found our bags we were on our way.
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