Boatharbour

We were very happy with the buffet on the Apex last July and disappointed with the four main restaurants. So much so that for the first time on a cruise we had several dinners at the buffet. The specialty dining especially Eden was superb.

We’ve eaten at Tuscan Grill twice on S class but won’t repeat. The first time we had a table next to the wake view and this made up for lacklustre food and patchy service. The second occasion was booked especially for our wedding anniversary and was noted. We arrived to find our table for two was next to a very large, very loud group who seemed to monopolise the waitstaff. The service was very slow and indifferent, so much so that we decided to leave after the main course. We let the maître d know of our displeasure as we left. An hour later an anniversary cake was delivered to our door.

The cafe has a small outside dining area which is a really nice place to sit in good weather. We loved our evening meal at the restaurant, so much so we booked again and then twice more on our upcoming Edge cruise. The elevated seating areas overlooking the wake were our favourite place to just sit quietly, read and relax.

I think the Matt Moran restaurant that is nominated as one of the best in Sydney is Aria, not Crafted. The Good Food guide awards are probably the closest we have to Michelin which isn’t used here. The number of chefs hats awarded is equivalent to stars.

Same here. We don’t sail until January 2025, first time with Princess and have been able to book the MDR for each night already.

Of course there are no locals! I was quoting oft used justifications for tourism. Not sure of the reason for the comparison to the GBR but as you state Antarctica is pristine. I’d like to leave it that way.

I realise there are rules but still ask myself what actual benefit is there to this fragile environment for groups of tourists to go on shore? They’re not contributing to the economy. They’re not providing jobs for the locals. Each to their own, but I choose not do it.

Thank you for a frank and honest review. I’ve really enjoyed reading along. It reassures me that our decision not to sail with Celebrity to Antarctica was the right one for us. We’ve chosen another line which has four days cruising in Antarctica. Our Japan cruise on Millenium in late 2019 was one of the best cruises we’ve done. Great itinerary and not many sea days. We had a few days in Tokyo at the start and used mainly private tour companies for excursions. There were no tendered ports so no trouble getting off the ship.

When we looked at even the cheapest expedition cabins they were at least double the price of a “cruise by” trip. For many people this is the deciding factor. I also have mixed feelings about tourists landing on this pristine environment. Can nowhere be left untouched by tourism?

Thanks Ken. We are doing the Magdalena Island excursion as well so will see a variety of penguins and wildlife there. I must admit though that the sheer number of Kings at Volunteer Point must be amazing to see.

I noticed there were some King penguins in Ken’s photos at Bluff Point and then wondered if we would need to travel all the way to Volunteer Point to see them. But from your photo it looks as though there are far more at Volunteer Point ?

I have enjoyed following your trip so much. Thank you for taking the time to share. Could I ask if you know anyone onboard who took the Volunteer Point excursion instead of the Bluff Point one? I believe there are more king penguins at Volunteer Point but it involves at least two hours each way over rough terrain.

Our cancellation email said Equinox was being redeployed to the Caribbean for “exciting 7 day itineraries”. It turned out to be a good thing for us as with a little more research we realised that only two days in Antarctica would be chancing it with the weather. With so many sea days we then booked a 17 day Princess cruise rather than the 22 day Holland America.

January 2026? Was that a typo? Oops sorry it was January 2025 that was cancelled and it was on Equinox. We booked while on board the Apex in July last year. One month later we received an email stating the ship had been redeployed.

It’s a pity that Celebrity only spends two days cruising in Antarctica. There’s little time to double back or vary the route for the weather Princess and Holland America spend four days in the region. Not to say you couldn’t end up with four foggy days, but at least your chances of seeing something clearly are doubled. We were booked on the January 2026 Eclipse sailing until Celebrity cancelled it. Now we’re sailing with Princess in January 2025.

I really appreciate you taking the time to give an objective opinion of this tour. This was the most expensive one we’ve booked (at full price) but it sounded so good we thought what the heck. We even checked out external review sites. I’ll definitely look into this before we sail. Thanks again for a great review of this trip.

Yikes, we’ve booked this excursion in March! Given the $$$$ do you think it was worth it overall? We’ve been to Christchurch several times and chose this tour because it didn’t have a city tour. Glad I found you as I was enjoying your report over on the other board.

I’m very excited to be following this thread. We have booked for January 2025. There have been a few similar threads on the Holland America forum but it’s even better to read this one here. Have a wonderful trip!

We also used Tours by Locals and Triple Lights and had wonderful tours in Japan. We were fortunate to have an active roll call that organised many of the tours and also transfers.

We sailed on Apex in the Baltic last July and the buffet was excellent. We usually only eat there at breakfast and lunch. However the MDR’s were disappointing ( limited choices with few options that appealed) so often dined at the buffet in the evening.

Perhaps that’s enough of the sexist comments and images. We‘re in the 2020’s and this is not ok.

Sorry, but we found the tables for 2 on Apex too close for our comfort. We usually eat around 7.00pm and had little luck securing tables with a little more space. This was in July when the food in all 4 MDR’s was underwhelming. We ended up cancelling the remainder of our dining bookings and switched to several specialty restaurants and the buffet. The buffet was excellent much to our surprise

I was very happy with the way GF was handled on board. I did submit the special needs form before boarding. It was obviously noted because in every dining room the staff were aware I was GF without me telling them. After several weeks of land travel where I often struggled to find GF food, it was a relief to find GF options so easily. The only glitch was the night we ate at Fine Cut and there wasn’t a single GF dessert so I chose from the MDR menu instead.

We used the airport limousine transfer to our hotel Cerculean Towers. It was in a great location and the room was. Our roll call was very active and we organised many tours with fellow passengers using Triple Lights, Tours by locals and Viator including the transfer from Tokyo to the port.