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Item: Celebrity Apex
Rating: 3.8
Author: Joulton

Celebrity Apex Cruise Review to Europe - Northern Europe

Joulton

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 5

Overall rating:

3.8 out of 5

12 Night Iceland & Ireland (Amsterdam To Rotterdam)

Sail date: August 09, 2023

Ship: Celebrity Apex

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 6171

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

After our experience on this cruise I believe we will find another company to spend our hard earned dollars with. To be honest we were underwhelmed.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Stepping on board was very smooth. A great start to our fabulous adventure.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Main dining rooms -for some reason Celebrity has 4 main dining restaurants in the aft portion of the ship. Each of them basically offer the same menus. In general we found the food over cooked and the selection limited. The specialty restaurants on the other hand were exceptionally good. The food was delicious and the service outstanding. They encourage you to make reservations which means - unlike other cruises, your chances of meeting fellow cruisers from other parts of the world, you are seated at a table for (in our case) two. In tge part, when we have cruised, we were seated often with 6 other people and we met many passengers from different places.

Le Grande Bistro

3 out of 5

This was a meal that the hotel/restaurant manager gifted us to make up for the Luke warm steak we had at the steak house. Once again - ordered a medium rare steak and once again it came to the table medium. We sent it back and it was returned again over cooked. Not much of a change except it was warm this time.

Café Al Bacio

5 out of 5

We grabbed a coffee each morning. The coffee was delicious and the staff was lovely.

Raw on Five

5 out of 5

We had a fantastic lunch here. Ate way too much but we woukd definitely go back to Raw on five again.

Fine Cut Steakhouse

3 out of 5

We had one meal here. We asked for medium rare Filet and it came overdone- more like medium. It was Luke warm to boot. I was so looking forward to this meal but we were really disappointed.

Eden Restaurant

5 out of 5

The food here was fantastic! Service was also top notch.

Spa Cafe & Juice Bar

5 out of 5

We had smoothies every morning. We lived changing it up and having a nourishing drink each morning.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

I found the selection of activities very limited unless you were willing to spend money. In tge past tgere have been learning opportunities on board ie. Cooking, computer programs, photography.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Out of 22 nights of entertainment I woukd say 5 nights were exceptional, especially the final night 'Rocumentary' it was fantastic!!

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

In general, serving staff is lovely. However tgere was nothing special about tge room cleaning staff. They did what was needed, nothing more.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

I would not travel on this ship again. Unless you have a suite or the penthouse suites, there is no where forward of midship to view tge spectacular scenery. Essentially the front end of the ship is out of bounds for the average cruiser. The way the dining is set up does not enable much mixing or meeting of fellow passengers.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

This room was an infinity deck. I didn't understand that this means your 'deck' is actually part of the room. You are able to lower ir raise the window to create a 'deck/balcony'. It worked for Iceland but I am not sure about travelling in tge tropics.

Ship tip

Make sure you know what you are booking.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Amsterdam, Netherlands

5 out of 5

Akureyri, Iceland

4 out of 5

Isafjordur, Iceland

4 out of 5

Reykjavik, Iceland

5 out of 5

Greenock (Glasgow), Scotland

4 out of 5

Belfast, Northern Ireland

4 out of 5

Cobh (Cork), Ireland

4 out of 5

Rotterdam, Netherlands

4 out of 5

Disembarkation

3 out of 5

Pretty smooth.

Traveler Photos

8 Comments

deconz 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing

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Ladyjunecliff 1 year ago

Thanks for your honest review.

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Gwbigdog 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing

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javawoody 1 year ago

Appreciate your view

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AuntPinkie 1 year ago

Nice itinerary. Appreciate your detailed review. Wise tip! Sorry you were disappointed but glad you found some enjoyment.

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Dumfy75 1 year ago

Agree with the previous comment, go to any other cruise line these days and you’ll probably still have a lot of the same complaints. At least you seem to have enjoyed some of your cruise though, thanks for the review.

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RagDadTX 1 year ago

I have been sailing for almost 24 years, mainly with Celebrity. The golden age of cruising has passed, and unfortunately, we all are going to have to really dumb down our expectations in order to have a good experience. That doesn't make it right. But, that is the reality for cruising at the moment.

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cruising2004 1 year ago

Sorry you didn’t have the best cruise. Hope future cruises will be more enjoyable.

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