APEX & BEYOND 2022 Itineraries - Can Only Do One...

[LGW59]

I currently have two cruises booked for 2022, but can only do one of them.  Both will be 100% new for me and I am super happy with both itineraries.  That said, if I could only do one cruise going forward, those of you that done these, wondering your thoughts.  Like I said, both are very cool to me and obviously would not be disappointed in only choosing one, just wonder what folks have done and your thoughts.  TVMIA!

 

APEX May 2022 - Scandinavia & Russia

Amsterdam (I'd fly in a few days ahead)

Sea

Sea

Stockholm

Helsinki

Tallinin

St Petersburg (2 days)

Visby

Oslo

Sea

Amsterdam

 

BEYOND October 2022 - France/Canaries/TA

Barcelona (I'd fly in a few days ahead)

Sea

Seville (Cadiz)

Lisbon

Sea

Ponta DelGada

Sea

Sea

Sea

Sea

Bermuda

Sea

Cape Liberty, NJ

[Fouremco]

If you like visiting new ports, the Apex. If you enjoy sea days, Beyond. I enjoy sea days, but much prefer visiting new ports, so in your shoes definitely the Apex.

[jelayne]

Scandinavia & Russia.  We did a slightly longer version and it is amazing.  

[kwokpot]

Two totally different type of cruises. I enjoy both. It really boils down to what you enjoy most from a cruise vacation, sightseeing or relaxing. The TA will be a little of both. Barcelona is an amazing city as is Lisbon. Cadiz is a very pleasant city on it's own but an excursion to Seville to see the amazing architecture is a great choice (won't be able to see everything, obviously). I don't see any French ports in the itinerary.

Having said that the Baltic Cruise would be my choice. So much is see and experience in all the ports. The St. Petersburg port stop will be an exhausting two days but well worth it.  DEFINATELY do your own tour, it will be half the cost of the ship's tour. The rest of the ports are easily seen on your own to walking around and enjoying all the sights.

[LGW59]

15 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

Two totally different type of cruises. I enjoy both. It really boils down to what you enjoy most from a cruise vacation, sightseeing or relaxing. The TA will be a little of both. Barcelona is an amazing city as is Lisbon. Cadiz is a very pleasant city on it's own but an excursion to Seville to see the amazing architecture is a great choice (won't be able to see everything, obviously). I don't see any French ports in the itinerary.

Having said that the Baltic Cruise would be my choice. So much is see and experience in all the ports. The St. Petersburg port stop will be an exhausting two days but well worth it.  DEFINATELY do your own tour, it will be half the cost of the ship's tour. The rest of the ports are easily seen on your own to walking around and enjoying all the sights.

You are right no France, though the actual title of the cruise is Spain, France and Canaries Transatlantic.  I love sea days and as the Scandinavian cruise has 4 so I can still get my do nothing days fix, I think I am leaning to that.  Thanks for your feedback!

[chemmo]

Rest and Relaxation vs serious sightseeing....Your call!

 

I remember on retiring struggling to choose an itinerary that really combined both...We finally chose a TP with land stays both ends. Not many cruises, unfortunately can offer the best of both worlds...

 

 

[AtlantaCruiser72]

Out of nearly 50 cruises the sailing I did back in 2001 to Scandinavia & Russia still ranks as my #1 in terms of destination/itinerary.  That said I do love a good Transatlantic sailing, and prefer to depart from Barcelona.  I'd look at average fare per day to make my decision on this one, but unless the Transatlantic was a screaming deal I'd lean heavily to Scandinavia & Russia.  Both vessels will be in service for 20+ years, so plenty of opportunity to sail both.

[dani negreanu]

 

Apex -- St. Petersburg with a good private tour, which gives you an express entry to Hermitage, and maximize your stay in the city.

 

Stockholm -- which isn't always included in the Baltic cruises.

 

Amsterdam -- always a pleasure.

 

[Lastdance]

If you are really, really interested in Russia and choose the Baltics, do a private tour by yourselves.  My DH and I were the only two with our car and driver for two days, so we even ate in a restaurant all by ourselves.  This saves so much time and you get to cut the line, or in our case, enter through the back doors etc.  You will never care about the money because it will always remain as your most favorite private shore excursion.   My DH gave me some eyebrow lifting when I mentioned doing this by ourselves, but he became a believer during the first hour of the tour.  We try to do one private tour on each of our cruises due to the time limit and our interests. 

Edited August 30, 2021 by Lastdance

[Shih-tzu]

Well as much as I would love to do a TA, the airfare to arrive at embarkation port and leave from a different disembarkation port is considerably higher than a return ticket using same airhead (in this case Amsterdam).  I personally would take the return from AMS ticket and use what I saved from the open jaw ticket to spend a day or two more in Amsterdam.   If you are fortunate enough to only have to buy a one way ticket to Barcelona if you live near Cape Liberty then I'd do the TA.  Curious as to how rough the Atlantic may be in October though.  What ever you choose, have a great cruise!!!

[AtlantaCruiser72]

1 hour ago, Shih-tzu said:

Well as much as I would love to do a TA, the airfare to arrive at embarkation port and leave from a different disembarkation port is considerably higher than a return ticket using same airhead (in this case Amsterdam).  I personally would take the return from AMS ticket and use what I saved from the open jaw ticket to spend a day or two more in Amsterdam.   If you are fortunate enough to only have to buy a one way ticket to Barcelona if you live near Cape Liberty then I'd do the TA.  Curious as to how rough the Atlantic may be in October though.  What ever you choose, have a great cruise!!!

This is where a cruise line air program such as Flights by Celebrity really has advantages. They get some really great one-way airfares and you can choose airline, routing and desired class of service. The only downside is usually you cannot upgrade to a higher class of service with miles. 

[LGW59]

13 hours ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

This is where a cruise line air program such as Flights by Celebrity really has advantages. They get some really great one-way airfares and you can choose airline, routing and desired class of service. The only downside is usually you cannot upgrade to a higher class of service with miles. 

Thanks I have used celebrity air and found it to be very convenient and more cost effective 

[Silkroad]

I love TAs, and I enjoyed my Baltic cruise so much that I'd consider booking another one. If I could choose only one, I'd go with the Baltic. We had a lovely time on ours, despite missing SPB due to high winds. I would have gone for Stockholm and Tallinn alone. You won't want to miss the sail in (also the sail away) through the Stockholm archipelago. We were fortunate enough to watch part of the long sail in from the "helipad deck", and we watched sail away from our balcony - fortified with a bottle of wine and a cheese & fruit plate😋

 

Of course, what I would really do is:

• keep both & book Air by Celebrity for both
• go on the first one
• and then move heaven and Earth to find a way to keep the second one😂

 

Whatever you decide, I hope you have a wonderful time!

[LGW59]

1 minute ago, Silkroad said:

I love TAs, and I enjoyed my Baltic cruise so much that I'd consider booking another one. If I could choose only one, I'd go with the Baltic. We had a lovely time on ours, despite missing SPB due to high winds. I would have gone for Stockholm and Tallinn alone. You won't want to miss the sail in (also the sail away) through the Stockholm archipelago. We were fortunate enough to watch part of the long sail in from the "helipad deck", and we watched sail away from our balcony - fortified with a bottle of wine and a cheese & fruit plate😋

 

Of course, what I would really do is:

• keep both & book Air by Celebrity for both
• go on the first one
• and then move heaven and Earth to find a way to keep the second one😂

 

Whatever you decide, I hope you have a wonderful time!

Great advice as both itineraries are superb!  Fortunately I have until February to decide on the May cruise and much longer for October.  Perhaps the $tar$ will align and I can do both!

[TeeRick]

LG no brainer for me.  I would do another Baltic cruise in a heartbeat !  Especially in May.  My favorite cruise of all time.  The Canaries in October could be dicey with a hurricane that time of year.  

[NCHPcruiser]

Four sea days in a row would not be my choice but others would love this.  I would also take into consideration the weather in the Baltic’s in May will be quite cool (we had cool weather on this cruise even in July) while you would have warmer weather in Spain and headed toward Bermuda even in October. 

[Silkroad]

12 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Great advice as both itineraries are superb!  Fortunately I have until February to decide on the May cruise and much longer for October.  Perhaps the $tar$ will align and I can do both!

They are great itineraries. I'm envious about the Baltic one. I'd love to do that one because it has several ports that would be new to me and it's on Apex. Mustn't be greedy, as I've already got a spring b2b booked on Edge😂 I hope you'll post a review. I've been to all the TA ports except Cadiz. I found both Lisbon and Bermuda especially enchanting.

Edited August 31, 2021 by Silkroad

[LGW59]

1 hour ago, Silkroad said:

They are great itineraries. I'm envious about the Baltic one. I'd love to do that one because it has several ports that would be new to me and it's on Apex. Mustn't be greedy, as I've already got a spring b2b booked on Edge😂 I hope you'll post a review. I've been to all the TA ports except Cadiz. I found both Lisbon and Bermuda especially enchanting.

Yes the Baltic cruise is amazing, while def not a TA, it does give 4 sea days, which I love!  Bermuda is lovely, have been there on 4 different land vacations, funny but it is the one port that I would not get off the ship.